Identity Crisis
by Saffamoe01
Summary: Tony Zucco, the gangster that murdered Dick Grayson's parents, breaks out of Arkham Asylum and meets with a mysterious woman from Batman's past. Meanwhile, Dick begins to show symptoms of multiple personality disorder and as his friends reach out for him, he starts to drift further away. When he believes all hope is lost, he does what he has sworn to prevent. He Kills.
1. The boy wonder

**So...here is the first chapter to my first Young Justice story... Okay, firstly, I don't know anything about the invasion series, I only watched the first one, and I have limited knowledge on the Batman world, so please tell me if i've got something wrong! Also, this story will (Eventually) document how Robin is going to cope with himself after he kills somebody, and how the team will react. I'm also gonna include some fluff, like flashbacks to when Bruce and Dick started living together, and days on the circus, so I hope you enjoy the first chapter. **

**- Also this is my Third fanfic, so be nice :D **

* * *

Wayne manor - Gotham City

"Unlike mister dark sunglasses over there. Bats won't let him reveal his secret identity." KidFlash remarked, arching an eyebrow at Megan.

Robin folded his arms over his chest. He didn't understand what was so important about revealing his identity to them. He didn't want to.

So what?

The real reason he didn't reveal it was that he was scared. Because of his dark past, and because of his present civilian self, he knew the juvenile league members wouldn't see him as the same person. That was what was good about having two personas. He could be two people. And while he was Richard Grayson, the tormented child that was taken under Bruce Wayne's wing, he was also Robin, the teenage crime fighter. No strings attached.

If anyone found out that he lived with Bruce, Robin was positive that they would write him off as a spoiled rich brat who had everything he asked for presented to him on a silver platter. Of course, that wasn't the truth, but people didn't always believe the truth, and Robin didn't want to take any chances.

There was also the fact that batman had strictly forbidden him to tell anyone his secret identity, for fear it might in turn uncover his own as Bruce Wayne.

Robin sighed after recalling what Wally had said. He hadn't meant it to be offensive, but Robin couldn't help but feel put down.

Did Wally not trust him because he hadn't told him who it was behind the mask? Was he curious or distrustful? Robin didn't know, and that was what worried him the most. Wally had never seemed distrustful before, but not knowing Robin's true self could hurt their friendship, and even their team.

He certainly didn't want the team breaking down because of such a trivial thing as the unknown. Robin fought alongside the team, Robin kicked butt with the team. Wasn't that all that mattered? He groaned and pushed himself from his bed.

He really shouldn't be over thinking all these things so much, after all, he knew Wally didn't mean to strike such a sense of indecision into Robin's heart. It was a matter of telling or not telling. And Robin didn't feel ready. Maybe he didn't totally trust them.

Robin, or Richard as he was now, since his costume sat folded neatly in his closet, turned to the mirror and began combing back his hair. He observed his blue eyes in the reflection. The only part of him he wouldn't show.

His eyes, the window to his emotions, and in turn, the window to his past. They weren't something that Robin was too hasty to let show, but Richard?

Well, he could be himself. Barbara knew him, and around school, when he was Richard, he could let his eyes show.

Richard pulled on his Gotham high uniform and fixed his tie, pulling the knot tight, just as Bruce had taught him.

It seemed most of the things he knew now were because of the teachings of the Dark Night, and not his own parents. He felt as though the Grayson's were slipping from his grasp, just as they had slipped from the high wire, and from Richard's life.

"Master Richard?" He heard Alfred's voice echo from down the hallway.

Swallowing his brief reminiscences, he called back. "I'm coming!" And grabbed his bag, slipping his mask into it, along with his utility belt and his communicator. One could never be too careful when his mentor was the sworn nemesis of pretty much every single criminal organisation situated in and around Gotham city.

Richard speed walked down the hall and down the stairs, finally coming into the kitchen. As he passed Alfred, he offered him a smile, but the old man just didn't buy it. He shot Richard a meaningful glance that said 'we have to talk' and carried on his way, dusting imaginary lint from Richard's shoulder as he walked past.

"Thanks." He said quietly, and the butler nodded curtly from down the hallway.

"Robin?" Richard heard Bruce's deep voice resonate through the kitchen.

He looked over and saw his guardians huge form squeezed precariously onto a barstool next to the breakfast bar. It would've been humorous, had there not been a distinct look of seriousness on Bruce's face.

"I told you I wanted to be called Richard while I'm in civilian clothing." He said, pouring himself some orange juice and sitting across from Bruce.

Bruce frowned. "Why?"

"Because I..." He took a breath and steadied himself. It was never easy to admit his feelings to batman, since it was like talking to a wall. A really emotionless brick wall. He'd hardly ever seen Bruce show compassion or love. Richard was thankful for that. He didn't want anyone's pity. "I don't want to forget." He admitted almost inaudibly, his voice cracking slightly towards the end.

"You won't." He produced a ghost of a smile, twitching at the sides of his mouth. "I know there's something bothering you, Richard. And if its about what I think it is, then please don't worry. You're doing just fine. There is no distrust among your team members."

Richard's brow raised into his hairline.

If there was one thing Bruce could be praised on with his paternal actions, it was his uncanny ability to read straight through Richard's emotions. He always knew exactly what was bothering him.

"I'm sure you're wondering how I knew that." Bruce now chuckled, putting a firm hand on Richard's shoulder and giving it a gentle squeeze. "I too was unsure of whether I could trust my team with my identity, and there were occasions where my comrades questioned my secrecy.

But if you feel that you can trust them with your identity, then you can tell them." He said softly, before his expression hardened and his moment of tenderness was lost to the paranoid tendencies of his personality. "But if you have doubts, even one, then do not, under any circumstances even hint at your true identity." His voice came cold and sharp, cutting through the calmness that had come over Richard after Bruce's advice.

"O-okay." He managed to reply. Now he wasn't sure what to think. Did he trust them? He wasn't sure.

"You don't have to decide right now. You need to be off to school. I'll see you afterwards. Probably."

What he should have said was, 'I might be home, but then again, I could be kicking super villain butt.'

Richard would've appreciated a comment like that when batman went out on one of his bad guy manhunts, and he was left at home in the dark. When he didn't know batman was Bruce. When he thought Bruce was simply abandoning him because he considered Richard too messed up. That's what all the possible foster parents had thought when Richard was living in the children's home.

Although they'd said things like "Sorry, we're just not ready for him." Or "I don't think he'd fit into our family." They probably meant they didn't want to adopt a problem child like him.

Bruce had been good to him, though.

All the nights he was alone, Bruce had spent the whole time out looking for his parents killers. When Richard went to look for him by himself, driven by the need for revenge and the pent up rage of all he had been through, Batman had stopped him from doing something he'd regret.

If it wasn't for Bruce, Richard would probably be on the villains side, or in jail. Instead, he was the well known side kick, Robin, the boy wonder. That was a name his parents would be proud of him for earning amongst the people of Gotham city.

Richard slipped into the limousine that was parked out the front of Wayne manor, Alfred in the drivers seat.

He watched the world go by as it carried him to Gotham high. He tried to imagine what it would be like if he was truly Bruce Wayne's son.

Would he have turned out different? Would Bruce be different if he had had a son to commit to? Would he even be Batman? He hoped he wouldn't be spoiled or ignorant. He was happy with who he was now, and the only thing he would've changed is his parents' fate.

But if he could somehow do that, would he lack the motivation to fight crime?

He frowned. Robin was a part of who he was now. Nothing could bring his parents back, but he could give the people who experienced what he had a service. He could give the wrongdoers their punishment.

But what he felt when he saw Tony Zucco after what had happened with his parents...a terrible feeling threatened to overtake him. All he wanted was to kill the guy who had taken his parents from him, taken his life from him.

But that wasn't right. What he had felt that day wasn't right, and so he had stepped back and let Bruce take Zucco to jail and toss him in Arkham with the rest of the lunatics. He would've been there instead, had Bruce not stopped him from taking Zucco's life. Then what? A nine year old in Arkham asylum didn't sound very logical, but neither did a nine year old that had committed homicide...

"Master Dick?"

Alfred was standing outside the car, opening the door for him.

"Uh, sorry, I guess I was just daydreaming." He said, giving the old butler a weak smile.

"Please cheer up" Alfred said sympathetically, handing Dick his bag. "You shall be seeing Barbara soon. You haven't seen her in quite some time, usually you are exited for such things."

"Yeah, I guess..." He said vaguely, taking his bag and slinging it across his shoulder.

"I know what you're feeling, but you need to be strong, Dick." The butler said, smiling widely at the young teen.

"It's the anniversary." Dick said quietly. "Bruce didn't even mention it. I don't think he remembered. I don't think he...cared."

"Master Bruce remembered, and cared. In fact, he called in to have Tony Zucco moved into solitary confinement just this very morning."

Richard laughed bitterly. "He sure does have a funny way of caring."

"Now, master Dick, you must get to school. Bruce won't forgive me if he finds out I've been keeping you from your education. I also presume it is not 'cool' to talk to ones butler." Alfred said, gesturing with a casual wave to a group of snickering teens.

"Thanks Alfred." Dick sincerely smiled, sweeping a lock of his gelled back hair out of his eyes.

Alfred got back into the limousine, before pulling away from the school.

Dick's smile slid from his face as he turned to face Barbara. He wanted nothing more than to get away from crime fighting, and here he was, face to face with batgirl.

Even Barbara's beaming smile couldn't cheer him up, because today marked the day that his parents died four years ago.

It was the anniversary of his parents' deaths.

* * *

Mount Justice

KidFlash, AKA Wally West ran towards Mount Justice. And it wasn't just a gentle jog either. He almost broke the speed of sound as he raced into the entrance. The computer beamed him in and identified him as KidFlash, alerting the caves more permanent residences of his arrival.

As he walked into the main hall, Megan appeared from the kitchen, stirring a bowl of batter.

"Hi Wally." She greeted with a smile, her green skin illuminated by the light from behind her.

"Hey Megan." He replied, blushing slightly. "Is Robin here?"

The Martian girl shook her head. "Sorry, nope. He checked in this morning via his communicator to say he wouldn't be here today."

"What, is he doing that dynamic duo thing with Bats or something."

"He did say something about how he was 'totally whelmed with school' and he was forbidden by batman to leave, though he wished he was bidden because school is a drag. You know. The usual." Miss Martian filled him in, speaking in short, excitable bursts.

And with the distinct lack of prefixes, KidFlash could almost hear Robin say that through Miss Martians lips. It was so like him, and yet it sounded so much like an excuse not to be here. Just what was he avoiding? "Okay, thanks Megan." He said, tugging off his mask and running a hand though his hair to straighten it out.

Megan chuckled as she watched Wally style his hair, but ended up having it sticking out in every direction. Humans were quite amusing indeed.

"We have not received a mission yet, so you are free to return home." Aqualad stated, appearing from the next room.

"I only came because I wanted to train with Rob." He said sulkily, turning towards the door.

"You may train with me, if you wish." Aqualad offered.

"By training, I believe he means he wanted to play video games with Robin." Superboy piped up from behind Megan. He actually hadn't known what a video game was up until a couple of days ago, when KidFlash insisted on playing them with him for hours on end. He had to admit, they were quite enjoyable.

"Fine." KidFlash sighed in answer to Aqualad's offer.

"Step onto the training ground." The computer commanded systematically. The two sidekicks obliged, facing each other on the training ground.

"Fight."

As soon as the word echoed through the cave, the two heroes were upon each other. KidFlash made the first move, since he knew Aqualad tended to stand back and scrutinise his opponents fighting technique.

KF used this to his advantage, rushing with his super speed toward the Atlantean and launching a punch to his gut. At last minute, Aqualad pulled his weapons from his back and utilised the water into long blades so that it blocked Wally's attack.

KidFlash skipped out of the way as Aqualad lashed out with the water, the whips catching him around the ankle and pulling him to the ground. Wally hit the floor on his back, and the computer recognised it as a fail.

Wally was disheartened that he was beat so easily. Robin tended to play around with him for a while before getting serious. Aqualad on the other hand had just beaten him to the ground in such a short time.

"Train with black canary later, your technique could use some work." The Atlantean informed him, before disappearing back into the depths of Mount Justice.

Wally replied with an irratated grunt. "Im gonna go play video games, call me if we get a mission." He said, before resigning to the lounge.

"Train with black canary, your technique was insufficient." Wally imitated in an irritated voice as soon as he was out of earshot, plopping down on the couch. "That's it! I'm calling Robin!" He dialled in the boy wonder's communicator frequency.

At first there was just static in Wally's ear, but soon enough, Robin answered.

"Yeah this is... Robin..." Robin's voice crackled though the communicator, through he sounded as though he had whispered his name.

"Hey Rob, I was just wondering where you were." Wally said nonchalantly.

"Sorry, I don't really have time to talk right now. I'm at school. I thought I left a message with Megan?"

"You did, but...I was just...bored." Wally finished after a long pause.

"Bored? The communicators aren't for casual conversation, Wally. You know that. What are you thinking?" Robin complained, his thirteen year old voice making him sound like a whiney teenager.

"Yeah, I know..."

"Yeah sorry Babs." Robin said, though it was muffled as if he had turned away from the communicator. "Sorry, Wally, I gotta go."

Robin's line was reduced to static once more, and Wally sighed, putting down the communicator.

"A lotta use he is, Boy Wonder my- Hello there!" A red light strobed on the side of Wally's communicator, attracting the speedsters attention. He looked at it closer and recognised it as a tracking device. Wally twisted a knob and a screen emitted from a small protecter hidden within the devices casing. He tapped a few buttons here and there and hey presto! Robin's exact location.

"Hello, Wally." He said, slapping himself on the forehead, much like Megan did. "He's at the school! _The_ school! Gotham academy fought that crazy Amazo robot there." He left the communicator on the table, not bothering to shut it down. He ran over to the mouth of the cave and requested that he be beamed out to Gotham.

Before he could even take another step, the alarm went off and Batman walked into the hall, next to the computer. Wally sighed and turned back to the hall, gathering with his fellow league members.

"There's an urgent mission I need you all to complete." He said quietly, almost uncertainly. KidFlash could've sworn he heard a tinge of emotion his voice.

"It's about time!" KidFlash said, crossing his arms and trying to look casual.

The look Batman gave him made him want to lock himself in Arkham asylum in a maximum security cell just to be released from the icy glare of the Dark Knight.

"This is not a joke, kid." Batman said cooly, turning back to the team.

_Man, Robin had to grow up with this guy as his dad...I wonder what happened if he didn't eat his veggies? _KidFlash thought suddenly, trying to distract himself from Batman's scrutinizing glare. _That poor kid really is a boy wonder, as in, it's a wonder he even made it through his childhood._

_A wonder indeed._ A gravelly voice agreed in his head.

"Who's there!?" Wally yelled out loud, tensing to run.

"M'gann already put up the psychic link. Batman included." Aqualad said apologetically.

Wally groaned as he realised the whole team, plus the Dark Knight, had just heard his thoughts.

"Robin doesn't eat vegetables. No force on earth could bring him to eat them before, so I never even bothered to give them to him." Batman said fondly, before clearing his throat. "Now, back to the mission."

_Awww. You do care. _Wally said psychically, clasping his hands under his chin just to mock Batman that little bit more.

The Dark Knight growled, but didn't retaliate.

Wally was glad to hear Batman had a parental side too. He knew how Robin's parents had died, and that Batman had adopted him, but he didn't know who they were when they weren't vigilantes. He had hoped Batman was a good father to Robin, he deserved it after all that he had been through.

"There's been a break in at a downtown bank. Get to it."

"You just said we weren't jokes!" Wally protested.

"And don't make me regret that comment." Batman reprimanded.

"But, this is grunt work!" Superboy pitched in, stepping boldly forward.

"That may be, but I was about to give you a covert mission when KidFlash took away that privilege. See you for debriefing."

Batman turned swiftly on his heel and beamed out of the cave, leaving the young justice league members staring at Wally angrily.

"What?" He asked innocently, pulling a candy bar from his pocket and unwrapping it.

Megan rolled her eyes and made her way toward the bioship, changing into her costume along the way.

"It does not matter what mission we receive, we must complete it to the best of our abilities regardless." Aqualad commanded, following the martian to the bioship.

Superboy just gave Wally an irritated look, knocking his shoulder as he walked past.

Wally sighed and trailed behind, slipping off his shirt to reveal his suit underneath and climbing into the bioship.

"Lets go." He said unenthusiastically. He noticed there was another seat empty other than Robin's. The two seats sunk into the ships frame, becoming one with the ship once more. "Hey, where's Artemis?" He asked, realising who was missing.

"She's at school too. You don't pay much attention, do you? She's been missing all morning." M'gann informed him, smiling and bringing the bioship up, commanding it to fly forwards and out of Mount Justice.

* * *

Arkham Asylum - Solitary confinement

Tony Zucco sat down against the wall in the solitary cell, sighing. He got up and growled angrily, punching the wall, though it wouldn't do much good. He hated Batman! He only killed those circus freaks because they owed him money, that was how it was in the criminal world. But no, Bats had to come in and save the day, and send him off to Arkham asylum.

And that wasn't even the worst of it! Just this morning, he got the warden knocking on his door to tell him that Batman had filed a personal request to get him moved to solitary confinement. It happened every year, and on the same day. The day that he had killed that kids parents. Why did Bats even care?

Tony sat back down, straining his eyes against the darkness. Lights had to come on soon, it was ten in the morning now. It had never taken that long to put the lights on, so what was happening?

Suddenly, the lights flickered on, but were so dull, it hardly made any difference.

"You'd think with all Bruce Wayne's donations to keep this place running, they'd be able to afford decent lights. They had better ones downstairs."

"You shouldn't be concerned about luxuries such as light." A voice rasped from beyond the reach of the light.

"Who's there!?" Tony demanded, trying to sound intimidating.

"Oh, please don't sound so scared. I'm here to help." It replied from the shadows.

Tony cast his gaze around the room, but couldn't see anything beyond the small circle of light that the overhead lamp produced.

"Help with what?"

"Oh my, you ask a lot of questions. I grant wishes. What would you like more than anything in the world?" The voice asked, finally walking from the shadows.

The light barely illuminated the figure, but the figure suggested a woman. She was wearing a mask, but it was too dark to make out what it was portraying. She wore a black stealth suit, helping her to easily blend into the shadows. Tony presumed it was the mask that was making her voice sound so deep.

"I-I want to make Batman pay!" He cried angrily.

"I could give you the power to do so..." She said vaguely, leaning over Tony.

"You could? But who are you?"

"You don't need to know." She snapped. "I just need somebody to get Batman out of the way. Can you do that for me?"

"I ain't doing this for no one. I'm doing it for myself. Me and Bats have a score to settle, now give me that power so I can get out of this place." Tony sneered. He didn't care if this woman was the devil, he didn't want to spend another night in this rundown excuse of a prison.

"Fine." She accepted, before chuckling lightly. "You are a sleazy little man, you know that?"

"Yeah, whatever, just hurry up and help me."

The woman sighed, and turned to the wall, holding up a hand. The bricks seemed to ease from the side of the building, disassembling themselves, before falling to the floor.

Tony gasped from behind her, and she rolled her eyes. "Have you never seen telekinesis before? It's quite a boon, I assure you."

"Do I get that?"

"No, you cannot just give away a power like mine. I shall worry about arranging your power, and you focus on escaping. Ciao!" She said, before stepping out of the way of the hole in the wall and slinking back into the shadows.

"Okay then..." Tony muttered to himself, stepping through the hole and onto the roof. "Now to escape..."

He looked across the rooftops of Arkham and saw no easy way down. "I could really use a helicopter or something." He mused to himself, straining to see further away. He spotted a huge yellow 'H' with something on top of it. A helipad and copter.

"Hey, I should do that more often. Now, if only I had a pilot..."

No pilot appeared, so he figured he would be flying the chopper himself. To bad he didn't know how.

* * *

Gotham City Academy

"Dick!" Barbara yelled, pulling Richard from his conversation with KidFlash. "What are you doing!? We have science to be boring ourselves with!"

"Yeah, sorry Babs." Dick said quickly, before dismissing whoever was on the phone. "Just talking to a friend..."

"Your other team?" She said in forced disinterest.

"What? How do you know?"

Barbara rolled her eyes and pointed to herself. "Detective. I knew Batman long before you did, plus my dad is the head of Gotham PD. Of course I know that you joined a team of young sidekicks a while ago. Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because you weren't chosen." He mumbled. He didn't like to tell her this, but for whatever reason, Barbara wasn't selected to be in the young justice league.

"Oh, I don't care about that! Dick, I'm just happy that you got chosen. I'm happy that you've made some great friends and I don't have to look after you anymore!"

"Hey! Babs! That's not true. I can _so_ look after myself, I'm thirteen now."

"Yep, that's why you're totally late to class."

"That's your fault for keeping me distracted!" Dick exclaimed, taking his science books from his locker and dumping them in his bag.

"I'll try to 'tract' you instead then." Barbara added, trying to drop the prefix like Dick did sometimes.

"Sorry Babara, thats my thing." He taunted, chuckling as he walked down the corridor, on his way to science.

Barbara watched him go, the smile on her face merging into a frown. _Something is wrong with him. Something has happened._

* * *

**Don't forget to be nice and review! **

**Saff x **


	2. The flying Grayson

Happy Harbor

**Hello again :) Thanks to the people who followed this, it's just drivel really, but thanks anyway! Enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

M'gann piloted the bioship to a forest near the bank and landed it in a clearing. The team jumped out, huffing at Wally as they walked past him.

"Hey, you can't blame me forever you know." Wally protested, assuming they were still mad at him about annoying Batman.

The team ignored him, choosing instead to walk to the bank without him. M'gann flew in front, scouting out ahead.

_Like Batman said, we need to treat this like a proper mission. If anything, it's at least good practice. _She said through the mental link.

She landed in front of the bank, but saw no sign of a break in. The alarm wasn't even going off.

"I was wondering when you'd show up." A rasping voice remarked behind them.

M'gann spun round, facing a woman in a black stealth suit with a venetian mask on. It was secured behind her head with a ribbon, holding her wild blond hair in place.

"Who are you?" Aqualad commanded, taking point in front of his team.

"That doesn't matter. What matters is that I'm bad, and you need to defeat me. Isn't that what being a hero is all about?" She asked them cryptically, scrutinising each of the team members.

Megan surged forwards, lifting a nearby car with her mind and throwing it at the woman. She braced for an impact that didn't come. The car simply floated above her for a while, before being lowered to the ground without a scratch.

"What!?" Megan exclaimed.

"Ah, your telekinesis is good, but not as good as mine." She bragged, lifting an armored truck that was unloading at the bank. The money poured from the back as she picked it up, the doors swinging on their hinges. She launched it at Megan, but Superboy stepped in front and swatted it away like an annoying fly.

"Hmm. You work better together than I thought you did." The woman observed, her rasping voice sending shivers down M'gann's spine.

"What do you want with us?" Aqualad demanded, trying to take control of the situation.

"I just want to distract you for a little while, so don't worry about what I want. Worry about what my partner wants."

"Distract us? Why?" M'gann asked, cocking her head in confusion.

"Let's just say my friend has a feud with your friend. Now, are you going to fight me or not?"

"We'll fight!" KidFlash yelled, speeding off to intercept the woman.

She held out a hand and folded each of her fingers back in an elegant pulling motion. KF was pulled off the ground by her telekinesis and held out of reach of the rest of the team.

"Kid!" Aqualad yelled, pulling the water weapons from his back and summoning water into them, forming two whips. He had never meant for this situation to become so out of hand, and it was getting to the point at which they may have to call the justice league in to help. Aqualad pulled his whip upwards, latching onto KidFlash's ankle and yanking down in an attempt to dislodge the speedster from the woman's hold. It was like trying to pull a deadweight. He was stuck fast.

KidFlash grit his teeth as his arms were pulled apart forcefully and his legs were held down. He wasn't even sure The Flash could get out of this situation, and even if he could vibrate his particles, what was there to vibrate through? Whoever this woman was, she was strong.

M'gann felt panicked. She was the only one on the team that could stop this woman's telekinesis effects, but she couldn't seem to take control. Her eyes glowed a luminous green as she forced her concentration on freeing KidFlash. She couldn't work out how her opponent was so strong. She was human, yet this woman could stop a martians mind control? M'gann just wanted to break down and cry, she was putting in so much effort, yet this woman batted off her attacks like they were nothing. She couldn't even fathom (Love that word!) how she was being so nonchalant about it. Megan was nearly falling over because it was taking so much out of her, but the woman was just standing there, one hand held out and one hand on her hip.

Superboy had taken the more direct approach and had thrown Wolf at her in the hopes of catching her off guard, the mutated animal poised to attack. The poor dog had simply been caught by her mental forcefield as neatly as a bug in a net. He now floated alongside KidFlash, his legs flailing uselessly.

"Huh. Nice to know I'm about as powerful as a dog." Wally commented offhandedly as he watched Wolf's futile attempts to break free.

"Grrraaahhh!" Superboy grunted as he continued to launch items at the woman, each item being caught and sent straight back at him.

_This is ridiculous. I am calling the Justice League. _Aqualad informed the rest of the team through the mental link.

_No! _Superboy growled as he launched a rather expensive car at the telekinetic master.

_Why not? We are clearly over our heads here. Not even M'gann can defeat her. _Aqualad replied, really wishing he had Robin here with him to talk some sense into the team. He seemed to be good at that sort of thing. He wished Robin was of age, his leadership of the team would be superior to his own. Aqualad felt that no matter how hard he tried, he just couldn't seem to fill the role perfectly.

_Yeah, and I'm not exactly enjoying myself up here! _Wally chipped in, still attempting to break free.

Their mental conversation was suddenly interrupted by the ringing of a mobile phone. Four heads snapped up to see what was happening.

The woman was pressing the accept button on her smart phone, before pressing it to her ear.

"Yes. Uh huh." She spoke into the phone. "I'll be there in a sec." She finished, before pressing the decline button and shoving the phone in her pocket, turning back to the juvenile league members. "Sorry kids, gotta fly. It's been nice seeing you all, but I'll be going now." She suddenly dropped KidFlash and Wolf, turning and swinging her legs over a motorcycle and revving the engine. Soon enough, she was disappearing down the road, leaving only tire tracks in her wake.

Wally pulled himself up and tried to pursue her, only to be stopped by Aqualad.

"What now then?" M'gann asked suddenly, having recovered from her brief mind strain.

"Now we return to the base, and we inform Batman of this woman. She could be a threat to the league." He replied, breaking off from the group and walking back to the bioship, desperate to get back to debrief.

* * *

Ally near Arkham asylum

Masquerade, or Sophia Bellagio, was on her way to help Tony Zucco against the justice league. She had planned it that way. She knew Batman set the missions for the younger league, and she knew as soon as she set the alarm off at the bank, Batman would send them to the easier mission by default while he took Arkham Asylum for himself. She figured she could play around with the kids at the bank for a while, before going to stop the justice league from killing Tony. Okay, so they probably wouldn't kill him, but she didn't need overtime because of him getting captured again. It would be extremely problematic for one, and she didn't need the league poking their noses in her business until the time was right.

She revved the motorcycle again and drove it down an ally, stopping underneath a fire escape and propping the bike up against the brick wall. She ran across the ally, her heels clopping as she did, and she reached up and pulled down the ladder to the fire escape. She pulled on it, and it came completely loose, rusty beyond use.

"Great. I don't have time for this!" She muttered to herself, tossing the unusable ladder on the floor, wincing as it clattered noisily.

Sophia secured her venetian mask to her face and caught the lowest rung of what remained of the ladder. It creaked metallically, but stayed put. She lifted herself up, her stomach muscles well trained for this sort of exercise. She swung forward and used the momentum to come back and flip backwards onto the platform above the ladder. She spread her arms and took a sarcastic bow, for no one in particular, before climbing the rest of the fire escape.

What met her was not what she had expected. She had made her way up to the roof opposite Arkham, where she had left Tony, but now it was completely clear. Not even one member of the Justice League was there.

"If that stupid man has got himself caught, I swear I'll-"

"Do what?" She heard a low whisper in her ear.

She spun around, but was met with only darkness.

"Oh, you'll have to do better than that, sweetie." She laughed humorlessly, dropping to the floor and swinging her leg, knocking over someone in the shadows.

Batman grunted as he hit the floor. He was mildly surprised. This woman was good.

"Who are you?" He demanded, rolling to dodge another kick, before getting to his feet again.

"Why does everyone ask that?" She sighed. Everyone wanted to know her identity! She thought heroes were meant to be secretive with their true identity's, so why couldn't they be the same with her?

Batman caught her fist as she tried to punch him in the face, pulling her forward so they were nose to nose.

"Because a man named Tony Zucco has disappeared from his high security solitary cell, and now he is loose in Gotham city." He growled.

Sophia broke out in fits of laughter. "So he did manage to get away! That man never ceases to amuse me." She went to punch Batman again, but stopped and instead caressed his cheek. "Killing those circus freaks, Robin's parents." She whispered.

Batman pulled away, disgusted. Then it dawned on him. "How did you find out!?"

"Come now. It's really not that hard at all, when you think about it." She smiled, flicking her hair over her shoulder. "All it took was a little research."

"Where is Zucco?" Batman grunted, grabbing Sophia by the shoulders and making her look at him. He took a Batarang from his utility belt and held it to her throat.

"Oh please, you wouldn't hurt me."

"You're right. I wouldn't" He said, letting her go.

"You wouldn't hurt me even if I had killed you parents." She purred, raising a hand and using her Telekinesis to lift Batman's mask from his head. "Isn't that right Bruce?"

A startled Bruce Wayne stared at her, before settling back into his emotionless facade.

"If you reveal my identity, It's only fair that I should do this!" He yelled, leaping forward and ripping her mask off.

Sophia looked at him with mild amusement, a smile playing on her lips.

Batman analysed her, as he did with every criminal. She had big brown eyes, that made her look innocent, but also childish, while her arched eyebrows made her seem mischievous. She looked around twenty. She looked familiar...it couldn't be her, could it?

"Sophia!?" He yelped.

"Don't seem so suprised, Bruce. You knew I'd come back to teach you a lesson." She pouted, frowning as she looked back to seven years ago.

(Sophia is an OC, and none of this has ever happened in the DC universe within my knowledge. Sorry if it has though)

* * *

Gotham academy

Dick Grayson yawned as his biology teacher pointed to different parts of the brain, asking each pupil what it was called. The joys of neuroscience.

"Dick?"

"What?"

"Don't ask me what, I just asked you a question." The teacher replied, sighing in exasperation.

"Sorry sir, could you repeat the question please?" Dick asked politely. Bruce had taught him how to be polite, even if he hated the person he was being polite to. Dick supposed it was so that the Wayne name wasn't soiled in any way. Couldn't have Bruce Wayne's ward being a savage child.

"I asked what part of the brain controls personality."

"The..." Dick groaned as he tried to flip through his notes to find the answer, but all he had written was doodles and words like 'Robin' and 'Batman'."I don't know."

The teacher strolled over and snatched up Dick's notes.

"You have an unhealthy obsession with the dynamic duo." He commented, throwing Dick's notes in the trash.

"Sorry sir."

"It's the Prefrontal cortex."

"Personalities, eh? Is it possible to have two?" Dick asked genuinely.

The teacher was thrilled to have a student take interest, so answered hastily. "Yes, it's common for someone to have a multiple personality disorder. All it would take is for something traumatic to happen and the brain splits the personality to offload the trauma on the flip sides of the patients personality." The teacher explained, smiling at his student. "There is also a more temporary version seen in adolescents mostly. It is when they literally create another identity, but the patients can lose themselves along the way, not knowing which identity is real, and which is fake. This is called an identity crisis."

Richard looked down at his hands. Were they the hands that drew harmless doodles during neuroscience, or the hands that beat up criminals at Batman's side? He wasn't sure anymore.

"Of course, multiple personality disorder is, theoretically, almost the same as an identity crisis, simply more serious." He continued, but Dick had long since tuned out of the teachers lectures.

Now he was scared.

What if, because of the trauma of seeing his own parents slaughtered, he had developed another personality to deal with it, and that's why he felt an urge to fight crime... He shook his head. Dick was certain he was just being skeptical now. He would know if something was wrong, and Dick felt fine.

"Could you excuse me please." He mumbled, getting up and running from the class room. His footsteps down the hallway echoed in his mind, even when he stopped walking.

He pulled open the door to the bathroom and shut himself in a stall, leaning against the wall to steady himself. He felt weak all of a sudden, but he couldn't stop thinking about Robin. What if Robin was another person? A persona that he could escape to when he couldn't handle the memories of Richard Grayson any longer? Dick turned and retched, the thoughts revolving round in his mind, like every question was trying to be seen at once. He clutched his stomach and closed his eyes, but the questions came to life behind closed eyes.

Why did he fight crime? He couldn't bring his parents back. Did this mean Robin wasn't real?

Dick threw up, no longer able to steady his stomach as it performed awkward flips inside him.

Suddenly, his communicator rung.

Dick wiped his mouth and pressed accept.

"Yes?" He said, his voice coming out weak and quiet.

"Hey man, are you okay?" Wally asked on the other end of the line.

"Y-yeah, I'm fine. What's up?" Richard replied, trying to steady his voice.

"We need you back at Mount Justice. Pronto. We had a run in with some weird woman with freaky powers, and we need the leagues input. Buuuut, we need your tech skills to hack into the system, since they're not answering our calls." Wally admitted.

"There's no way I could get to the base in time! Batman usually drops me in the batmobile." Robin said, not wanting to admit there was a zeta tube in Gotham that took him to the cave.

"That's okay, I'm waiting outside for you. I can take you back, quick as a flash."

"You're what!? Batman will kill me! How did you know what school I go to?"

"I'm a science geek." Wally boasted.

"You looked at the locator on your communicator, didn't you."

"Yeah... But hey, just meet me outside."

Dick sighed. "See you in a minute." He put the communicator back in his bag, before taking out his mask and securing it to his face, running a hand through his gelled hair to mess it up.

The transition of one person into another.

Dick shook his head. That wasn't it at all. He was simply putting on a disguise.

He removed his blazer and put it in his bag, and strapped his utility belt round his waist. Now he just wore black slacks, a white shirt and a mask. Nothing that suggested he went to Gotham academy. Just how Batman liked it to be.

Dick ran out to the front of the building, seeing Wally leaning against the gate.

"Hi." Richard greeted.

Wally turned and rolled his eyes. "Really? The mask again? What, do you keep one in your bag or something?"

"Yes. In actual fact, I do. Now, lets go." Robin said.

"Okay." Wally said, picking up Robin and slinging him over his shoulder unceremoniously.

"Is this really necessary?" Robin asked indignantly.

"Yup, now hold on and try not to die." Wally smirked, before dashing with his super speed through Gotham city.

Robin watched Gotham disappear and Happy Harbor appear in less than fifteen minutes. Soon enough, Flash's protege was offloading him outside Mount Justice.

"Thanks...I think." Robin stuttered, dusting off his slacks. He walked into the Zeta, and let himself be scanned, before he was beamed into the cave.

"Robin, B-01." He heard the computer announce behind him. "KidFlash, B-03"

The rest of the team gathered into the entrance hall as they heard Robin and KF enter.

"Hey Robin! How was school?" Megan asked enthusiastically, smiling at Robin kindly.

"You told them too?" He asked Wally, who cast his gaze to the ground. "It was..." Robin stopped as he thought about his biology lesson. He made no attempt to finish as he turned to the computer and typed in the encryption for the Watchtower.

"Robin?" Megan asked again.

"What is it? I'm kind of busy here." He snapped.

Superboy frowned, and KF shrugged. None of them knew why Robin was acting so...sketchy.

"Did something happen? Do you want to talk about it?" The Martian soothed, putting a hand on the youngest members shoulder.

He jerked away, his eyes feral and reserved, though of course, the team couldn't see them. That was the reason he wore the mask. "Enough with the questions! I can't stand it anymore!" He yelled, his voice echoing through the hall. His eyes widened as he realised what he had said. "I'm sorry." He sighed, running a hand through his hair. "I haven't been sleeping lately."

"I sense a slight emotional problem with your mind, Robin. Maybe you should see Black Canary." Megan suggested.

"No. Don't probe into my mind. I don't need anyone's help. Now just let me do my work." He muttered irritably, turning back to the computer.

Aqualad frowned. He didn't like to see a team member behave like that, but what could he do? He didn't understand the emotional problems the Robin experienced, simply because he knew nothing about him.

"Hello?" Green lantern asked, his face appearing on the screen.

"Is Batman there?" Robin asked immediately.

"What's wrong with me?"

"I don't need you right now, I need Batman."

Green lantern looked somewhere between shocked and hurt. "He went out an hour ago. He should be back soon, I'll call you when he does."

"Thanks." KidFlash replied for Robin. "We need a debriefing. We met a woman who was able to use telekinesis better then Megan."

"Debriefing, eh?" Green lantern raised an eyebrow. "I'll send over Black Canary for now, okay?"

"That would be fine. Thank you for your time." Aqualad said politely, before ending the call.

The zeta beam announced Black Canary's arrival, and the team went to meet her.

Aqualad told her about the woman they encountered, with help from M'gann.

"She was just so strong! I couldn't...I just couldn't..." She sighed and fiddled with her skirt nervously.

"And where were you?" Black Canary asked Robin, since he was the only team member who had not said a word.

"I-" Robin frowned. He couldn't find the memory he was looking for. "I can't remember!"

"Robin. You were at school, remember?" Wally informed him, his voice calm and soothing.

"Yeah. Yeah, I know...Dick wasn't feeling well so he went to the bathroom. That's when he got the call." Robin said, counting the actions off on his fingers.

"Wait. Dick? As in Dick Grayson. Robin, thats you!" Wally exclaimed. Although Robin had never taken off his mask, he had told Wally all about his past. Wally knew who Dick Grayson was, just not what he looked like. "You just referred to yourself in third person, and you've been acting snappy and forgetful all afternoon. What is wrong with you?"

"I-I think I need to sit down." Robin stammered, turning away to the lounge.

As soon as Robin was out of earshot, Black Canary came to life. She hadn't said anything, though she had been examining the situation.

"I need to talk to Robin privately, but first I need you to tell me where this mystery woman is now-" She was cut off by the ring of her communicator. She picked it up and listened for a minute of two, before ending the call.

"Who was it?" Aqualad asked eagerly.

"Batman. He just had a run in with our mystery woman. No so mysterious anymore. Names Sophia Bellagio, or Masquerade as she's known back in her town."

"And where's her 'town'?" Superboy questioned, a deep frown on his face.

"She lives overseas in Thailand, and she has done so for the past seven years."

"And before that?"

"Gotham city. She was an official resident, attended Gotham academy, a star pupil. Parents were wealthy, she had a younger brother who went on to become a university professor. She had a normal life."

"So how has she got Telekinetic powers?" M'gann asked, frowning.

"Ask Batman. I just transferred him to the cave transmitter." She hit a button on the computer and Batman's face filled the screen. The whole League was there too.

"This is news to us too, kids." Flash shrugged behind the Dark Night, ready to hear about the new villain that escaped from Batman.

"Seven years ago, there was an accident. Sophia was an exceptional student, but excelled in neuroscience. At the age of thirteen, she had invented a prototype for a system that could be fitted into the human mind to utilise the brainpower that we don't use." Batman begun. "The academy thought her experiments were too dangerous, so they expelled her. To prove them wrong, she performed the experiment on herself, with the help of her fathers money. The procedure went wrong. It didn't make her intelligent. It made her telekinetic. When her father confronted her about it, she got so angry that her powers went out of control and she ended up killing him."

"Hold up Bats. How do you know all this?" Green arrow asked.

"Good question." Wonder Woman agreed.

"I was on the case. I was the one that put her in a young offenders institution. Although she murdered, she didn't mean to. I was new to being...Batman. I felt sorry for her. I loosened the security on her cell, and gave her home comforts. It was my fault she escaped. She fled to Thailand and was taken into a monastery for young women. I couldn't touch her while she was there, so she had seven years to perfect her powers. I'd all but forgotten about her until she broke Tony Zucco out of Arkham to get back at me. I don't know what she's planning, but it can't be anything good."

"You didn't apprehend Zucco?" Wally asked angrily. He knew exactly who Zucco was, and what he did to Robin's parents.

"No. He was nowhere to be found." Batman admitted, sighing.

"Okay. We'll keep an eye out for both of them, but theres no point in us searching for them." Aqualad said.

"We'll call you again if we receive more information." Batman said, ending the call.

KidFlash laughed bitterly. "I doubt it. Bats has kept her a secret for seven years. I don't think Robin even knows." Wally realised the boy wonder had been missing for the duration of the conversation with the League. "Robin!" He exclaimed, before rushing off to the lounge to see how his best friend was doing.

"Robin." Black Canary sighed.

"Is something wrong?" M'gann asked, tilting her head in concern.  
"I'm worried about him. Tell him to get some rest and come and see me this evening. I'll be in my office."

"Okay." M'gann nodded, running after Kid into the lounge to consult Robin.

Superboy filed out as well, leaving Aqualad and Black Canary alone.

"What is wrong with Robin?" He asked, frowning. "I have never seen him act like this before."

"He's been a hero for four years now and...well, I don't think Batman's vice grip on him is good for Robin. He isn't allowed to talk about his past with anyone. It's starting to take a toll on him."

"What are you going to do?"

"I'm going to give Robin someone to talk to. Someone that he can confess about his problems." Black Canary said quietly.

"Like a shrink. I do not think Robin has any mental problems." Aqualad said. He wasn't sure Robin would appreciate being called a psycho.

"He's showing symptoms of multiple personality disorder. If he carries on as he is, he will end up in a psychiatric ward. The border between Dick Grayson and Robin the boy wonder is breaking down."

* * *

**Okay, now that atrocity is over, I'm sorry if anything is misspelled, but I'm an insomniac and I write at night, so my brain isn't really at it's best. Please review and tell me if I got all the phycology part right, it was just based on what I know, but it could be wrong. **

**Saff x **


	3. Who am I?

**Hi again:) I now have seven followers Yay! **

**I would like to thank ArkieR for her lovely review that motivated me to write this chapter :D So thanks to her, here's chapter three!**

* * *

Mount Justice

"Welcome to the first session, Dick." Black Canary said pleasantly. It had taken M'gann and Wally hours to convince Robin that this was the best thing for him. He had eventually agreed to do a twenty minute session with her.

"Please. Don't call me that. Not here. Here I'm called Robin."

"Okay, Robin. Can you tell me when the symptoms started."

"I don't have symptoms, because I don't have any problems." Robin protested, frowning.

"No, of course you don't. But when did you start to forget?"

"It started as little things. It was quite a long time ago, and I forgot to put my tie on, or forgot to put my keys in my bag. But it got worse. The other day I..."

"You forgot a whole chunk of a day. Amnesia is a common symptom of multiple personality disorder. Robin, I'm afraid that not revealing your identity to anyone apart from Bruce and Alfred isn't good for your health."

"But you know my identity." He murmured.

"Yes, but I don't know Richard Grayson. I don't know who you are outside of the costume, and I don't know your past."

"Wally does."

"Wally has never even seen your face. It may work for Batman, but he's a grown man. You're a thirteen year old, you should be out with friends, not constantly flipping between Dick and Robin. If Batman would just let you tell us, then we could've avoided this talk altogether." She said, her eyebrows drawing together in concern. Even now the kid had his damn sunglasses on.

"So you're blaming Batman now?"

"No. I admit that I believe he played a part in this, but the key to this disorder is trauma. You experienced something so terrifying that you have split yourself in two to deal with the pain. Can you tell me what that was?" She asked gently, leaning forward on her seat.

"I can't. I'm not allowed to talk about my past."

"You are in this room. Anything that you say to me will not be repeated to anyone. You don't have to worry."

"It was four years ago. I lived at a traveling circus, so I guess you could call me a gypsy. My family was Romanian. Anyway, I was in an act with my parents. The flying Grayson's. It was great." He smiled weakly at his fond memories.

"What happened?"

"Tony Zucco happened. He was the one that killed my parents."

Black Canary froze. "Tony Zucco?"

"Yeah, do you know him?"

The kid didn't know! He didn't know that the guy had escaped from prison just the day before. "Yes, I've heard of him..." She answered vaguely.

"Then I lived in an orphanage for a couple of months. I hated it there, but Bruce came for me. He felt sorry for me and took Dick in as his ward. The rest you know." Robin finished, his voice sounding empty as if he didn't have control over what he was saying.

Black Canary knew that he wasn't telling her the whole story. It was just the basics. "You said 'Dick.' Robin, who are you now?" She asked.

"I-I'm..." He looked down at his hands. He didn't know. He was a mix of Robin and Dick since he was in civies, but he was hiding his eyes. "I don't know who I am now. I'm a mixture of both."

"No, Robin. There are two names, but not two people. There is no 'both', only you."

"You don't understand. There _are_ two. Because we know different people, we lead different lives." Robin's eyes widened as he realised what he had just said. "I-I _am_ going crazy!"

"No you're not. We'll get you help, Robin. But for now, you need to get yourself together. You have a team that needs you, and I know you're not going to just sit around while they search for Tony Zucco."

"Wh-what?" He stuttered nervously, his blue eyes widening in shock. "He escaped!?"

"I'm afraid so. What with your condition, I feel it would've been a bad idea to keep this from you. I'm letting the whole team search against the orders of Aqualad, so could you do one thing for me?"

"S-sure..." Robin replied, still surprised from the news.

"Stick with your team and cover your tracks. If you find Zucco, call the league. Do not try to apprehend him."

"Fine. Okay, I can do that."

"I know you can. That's why I'm letting you go."

Robin smiled. "Thanks." He pushed himself out of his chair and walked out of Black Canary's office, swapping his glasses for his mask as he went.

* * *

Unknown location within Gotham City

Sophia brushed her blonde hair back, flustered. She couldn't believe Batman had been so bold as to rip her mask off! She had gone to great lengths to cover her tracks, just for him to ruin it all in two seconds. And now he'd probably gone and reported it back to the rest of the league.

Her phone rang again. She sighed and picked up, nearly jumping at the voice that came through the receiver.

"Hello Sophia." The deep voice greeted her ears.

"M-Master! What are you calling me for?" She asked, trying not to act too surprised.

"What happened, Sophia? I thought you said your plan was foolproof? And here you've gone and ruined it yourself."

"It's not ruined, I can redeem it! I just need more time!"

"Time is not something I deal with. I wasn't bluffing when I said I would kill your cute little sister if you didn't hold up your end of the bargain."

"No. No, you can't do that! She's just a little girl. She didn't do anything wrong." Sophia pleaded.

"No. _She_ didn't. But _you_ did. You know what I want, so make it happen! If you don't, well, you know what happens to people I don't like."

The line went dead, and Sophia put her phone away. She wiped away a tear, before putting her mask back on and entering a small, run down block of apartments. She took the slow, jolting elevator to the fifth floor, and searched for apartment number 512. The apartment she had told Tony Zucco to hide in once he had escaped from the Justice League. She rapped twice on the door.

It opened immediately, the gangsters face appearing in the doorway.

"You should be more cautious." Sophia scolded, her voice empty and void of emotion. She was thinking of her sister.

Melanie wasn't her real sister, of course. She hadn't spoken to her true family in years. She had met Melanie at the monastery she had stayed at and she looked after the girl since she was five. Once her employers learned of this 'sister' of hers, they immediately took her to use as leverage.

"Yeah, sorry. I was tired of waiting for you to show up." He replied insolently, closing the door behind Sophia.

"I was busy fighting Batman." She said through clenched teeth.

"And I was evading the League. Seems we had equally fun afternoons. Now, back to business. What power do you have in store for me?"

"Right. A deals a deal." She reached into her pocket, taking out a small device. One of the many inventions she had worked on while in the monastery.

"What is that? I asked for power, not a computer!" He yelled angrily, years of time wasted in prison coming out in anger.

"This _is _the power. I invented this to be implanted into the patients brain. It manipulates your braincells to regenerate lost tissue at much faster rates than any normal humans. Somebody could chop your limbs off and they'd all grow back in under ten seconds. You would be impossible to defeat." Sophia advertised with honeyed words.

"Do it." Zucco said greedily.

Sophia nodded and lead him into the living room, where a surgery chair was set up. She sat him down before picking up a scalpel and stroking the blade with a content look in her eyes. "As you wish."

* * *

Mount Justice

Robin called the team to the main hall, around the computer. He had also pulled Artemis out of school for this. She had come as fast as she could, but she was angry they had left her out for so long. She watched as Robin hastily typed, pulling up records of mobile phones used during the time the team had fought Sophia. They had said she had accepted a call on a smartphone while they were fighting her. Robin intended to find the phone, along with any recent activity on it.

"There!" He exclaimed, making all the team members jump.

Th screen showed the records of a smartphone contracted in the name of Sophia Bellagio. It showed a text and a call as the most recent activity. They looked at the text first.

It read;

Bqbsunfou gjwf uxfmwf Bslibn bwf

"Thats just a load of gibberish!" Wally declared.

"It does not make sense, Robin." Aqualad agreed.

"Get me some paper and a pen." He requested. Aqualad frowned, but didn't argue. He came back with the requested items.

"It's not gibberish." Robin said as he wrote the message down. He then wrote the alphabet underneath and circled various letters. "It's a code." Soon enough, Robin had translated the whole code.

The text now read;

Apartment five twelve Arkham ave.

"How did you know?" Asked M'gan, amazed.

"It's a code that swaps each letter for the next letter in the alphabet. 'A' would be swapped to 'B' and so on. It's one of the more simple codes, so me and Batman never used it, but he did teach me about it just in case." Robin said proudly, a smirk spreading across his face. He closed down the computer, forgetting about the phone call that he had not listened to.

"Cool. Can we go kick the bad guy's butt now?" Wally asked eagerly, pulling at Robin's cape.

"I'm not sure."

"What do you mean by that?" Artemis scoffed, already angry at Robin.

"It was coded, but she knew I could decode it. It's a lure. She wants us there." Robin replied.

"What was the point of coding it, then?" Aqualad frowned.

"She's luring me specifically. She knows I know the code and she knows it would lure me but she knows that I would know that she is trying to lure me but she knows that I would come anyway." He said, his words pouring out like a speech avalanche.

"What he's trying to say is that the enemy knows we're coming." Wally translated for the team.

Noises of realisation sounded throughout the room.

"Should we get going then?" Megan asked, picking up the paper with the location written on it.

"Lets." Robin replied, before turning on his heel and heading to the bioship.

The rest of the team shrugged and followed, meeting the boy wonder inside the ship. M'gann sat in the pilots seat as the rest of the team sat around her.

"Robin...are you...?" Wally started.

"Okay? Not really sure. One things for sure though. I'm confused." Robin admitted.

"It's gonna be okay, Rob. I know you're not yourself at the moment, but we're all here to help, if you need us." Kid smiled and clasped Robin's shoulder.

Robin saw his father when he had patted him on the back before their final performance all those years ago. He couldn't see his face, just his hand.

"Dad?" Robin asked in Romanian, but the vision dissipated. Wally reappeared, looking very confused. "I-I'm sorry...I thought you were my...never mind."

Artemis snorted. "When they told me you were going crazy, they weren't joking."

"Leave him alone, Artemis." Superboy said in a threatening tone.

"We're here." M'gann announced, bringing the bioship down near the apartment buildings.

Robin nodded curtly, before jumping from the ship and disappearing into the shadows.

Wally, who was still sat in the bioship with the rest of the team, said; "Have I ever mentioned that I hate it when he does that?"

"Oh, just a few times." Artemis sighed, before hopping out of the ship, closely followed by the rest of the team.

Robin entered the apartments. He saw shadows where there shouldn't have been shadows. He wasn't sure if he was just seeing them, like with his father, or if they were actually there. In any case, he jogged into the elevator and took it to the fifth floor. He stuck to the comforts of the shadows, but he still didn't feel safe. The hair on the back of his neck stood up and shivers wracked his spine. The shadows closed in on him, engulfing him...

"Robin!" Aqualad shook his shoulders.

"When did you get here?" Robin asked numbly. The hall was brightly lit. There were no shadows.

"Robin, you were whispering incoherently in the middle of a hallway. You need to stay alert. Do not succumb to what isn't real." He said, as Wally and the rest of the team appeared behind him.

Robin closed his eyes for a second, but the image of his parents falling from the trapeze scarred the darkness of closed lids. He snapped them open again, taking comfort from his team members.

_Apartment 512 should be just around the corner now. _M'gann informed them mentally, flying ahead in her stealth suit. Robin ran after her.

"I'm not sure taking him on this mission was the best idea." Superboy remarked, before racing after them.

Robin got to the door and planted explosives, blowing the poor door to wooden smithereens. He stepped over the blast debris, entering the apartment. He saw a small, dusty kitchen leading into a living room with a fold down bed. He could see the edge of a blue tarpaulin. The light, which was little, streamed through small gaps between the blinds. Robin continued deeper into the apartment, entering the living room. He gasped and put a hand over his mouth. Blood stained medical instruments were strewn across the floor, and Tony Zucco sat slumped in the chair, a metallic device protruding from the side of his head.

M'gann tried to see, but Robin pushed her back, shaking his head.

_Get the team._ He told her mentally.

She nodded, flying out of the apartment.

"I know you're there." He said, turning towards where Sophia was standing, behind the door to the bedroom. She slipped out from her hiding place, walking towards Robin.

"You must be little Robin." She said endearingly, coming close enough for Robin to see the venetian mask.

"What have you done to him?" He asked, gesturing to Tony Zucco.

"I've improved him. Tony?"

Tony's body moved in shuddering motions. He got up, his eyes opening slowly. Suddenly, he jolted, and life returned to his eyes. They narrowed as he recognised Robin.

"You." He said venomously, before launching himself at Robin.

The thirteen year old tumbled backwards as the large man landed on top of him. The boy wonder slipped out from underneath him and humped back, sending several mini explosives at him. They merely set him back a little. Tony leaped straight back at him, this time sending Robin flying against the window. The brittle glass smashed and gave way, and Robin fell through, landing on the fire escape below. He jumped back up, punching Tony straight in the face. Robin felt the gangsters nose break beneath his punch, but when he stepped back, the nose simply clicked back into place like the last piece of a puzzle.

"Do you like my new power, boy blunder?"

"A healing factor. How quaint." Robin remarked confidently, skipping up the stairs and to the roof. They would have more room to fight there.

"Running away?" Tony grunted, racing after him.

Once Robin got to the roof, he turned and faced Tony, who will still coming at him like a bull that really needed anger management. Tony reached him and aimed a punch in the stomach, but Robin nimbly skipped out of the way, before using a nearby wall to launch himself at Tony, who fell backwards as Robins boot hit him in the face.

It didn't keep the gangster down for long, as the cut from hitting his head healed, and his energy replenished.

Tony caught Robins hand as he tried to punch him, and transferred his vice grip to the boys throat, holding him just off the ground.

"No Batman to come to the rescue now! You realise that I can end your pathetic little life right here, don't you?" Tony taunted, tightening his grip around Robins throat.

The boys limbs went slack as his air supply was cut off by the fingers blocking his air pipe. Yellow dots of light invaded his vision. He thought he was going to pass out until he heard a voice.

"Let go of him!" KidFlash yelled as he raced onto the roof, closely followed by Miss Martian, while Superboy, Artemis and Aqualad fought Masquerade below them.

Tony laughed and held Robin over the edge of the roof. "If you say so." He snickered, before dropping Robin.

"NO!" M'gann screamed, flying over to catch him, but Tony pushed her back and she hit the wall.

KidFlash ran over to the edge as fast as he could, dodging Tony as he tried to catch him. He looked over the edge and nearly fainted in relief. Robin had been thrown over the side with the fire escape. He had fallen a couple of floors, but he should be okay. He turned back to fight Tony, but the gangster was nowhere to be found.

_How could a middle aged, hulking big man disappear?_ He thought to himself. He ran over and helped Megan up, before pointing to the edge of the roof.

Tears spilled over her brown eyes. She didn't know Robin was alive. She flew over and saw Robin sprawled across the floor of the fire escape, and she turned back to Wally, sobbing in relief.

A few minuted later, and Superboy was carrying Robin over his shoulder, back to the bioship. As they boarded, M'gann commanded it to generate a bunk that rose from the floor just by the door and away from where the rest of the team sat.

"We need to get him awake as soon as possible. With the fall he took, he could have internal bleeding, then he'd never wake up. M'gann, take us back to the cave. I'm going to stay back here with Robin. Aqualad, call Batman." KidFlash addressed them all separately, before they went off to do their respective jobs.

Superboy and Artemis left Wally with Robin, going to prepare to take off. M'gann piloted the ship off the ground and into the night sky, going as fast as she could urge it to.

"Rob, you shouldn't of tried to fight that creepy dude alone." Wally sniveled, kneeling next to his best friends unmoving body. "Why didn't you wait for us?"

To his dismay, Robin didn't move to defend himself. Wally thought it was rather disconcerting since Robin had his mask on and it seemed as though his eyes were open, even though it was clear he was unconscious. Given the situation, he didn't think Robin would mind if he took his mask off, just to make him more comfortable. Wally reached to take it off, but was stopped by a hand on his shoulder.

"Do you think he'd appreciate that?" Asked Artemis, her eyes downcast.

"Questions like that were what caused Robin to be so messed up in the first place. He needs to trust us more." Wally declared angrily, taking the mask off. Immediately, he wished he hadn't.

Even when his eyes were closed, Wally could sense the hurt from them. They were screwed shut, clenched together in pain, while his brows were drawn together. He did not look peaceful at all.

"Rob?" Wally asked, shaking his shoulders to wake him up. His frown of discomfort only deepened. "Robin?" Wally said again, only this time firmer and louder. He shook his friends shoulder again in a last-ditch attempt to wake him.

Robin groaned.

"Wally! Couldn't you just leave him?" Artemis scolded, kneeling beside KF to tend to Robin.

His eyes opened slowly as he unwillingly entered consciousness.

"Blue." Artemis breathed, seeing Robin's eyes for the first time. They were soft, but pained at the same time.

"Hey dude." Wally said gently, helping Robin into a seated position.

"Oh." Robin remarked quietly, his voice hoarse. "My mask."

"Look, I'm sorry man. I didn't think you'd mind, given the situation."

"Robin doesn't blame you. I on the other hand, have only talked to you on the phone. I assume you are KidFlash then?"

"What do you mean assume? You've known me for years."

"Robin has known you for years. But not me. Not Dick."

* * *

**Well, I hope you enjoyed that. Yeah...that happened. **

**Saff x **


	4. Little Robin

**Hello! Read it! Goodbye! Thank you! **

* * *

"Wha-?" KF started, but seemed to hold himself back. "Rob...Dick, I think you should get some sleep. You sound delusional."

"How dare you! I'm the son of famous billionaire B-" Dick's hands clamped over his mouth. He recomposed himself, before removing his hands and starting again. "It appears Robin does not want me to share that particular fact with you all."

"What is wrong with you? You sound like a spoiled brat. And whats with the posh vocabulary? What happened to dropping prefixes?" Artemis complained. She didn't like this Robin at all.

"I am only acting as a boy of such status should."

"Well you should stop it! It's not you." The archer replied as she leaned down and studied his eyes. She guessed she might as well see them while she still could. She recognised them, but she didn't know why. Perhaps she had passed him in the street before, or something.

"I know it's not." The teen sighed, sounding like his usual self for a second.

"Rob, I've known you for a while now...and...just because you think you should be someone, doesn't mean you should. Why can't you just be yourself? Why don't you tell us who Dick Grayson _really_ is?"

"Alas, I cannot. Robin will not allow me access to those memor-" He abruptly stopped when Artemis jabbed him in the neck, effectively knocking him out cold.

Wally looked at her, wide eyed. "What was that for!?" He cried accusingly.

Artemis shrugged. "He was getting too confusing. It was hurting my brain."

The speedster sighed and rolled his eyes. "At least we know he's okay. Physically, anyway."

* * *

Justice League Watchtower:

Batman had been enjoying his quiet afternoon in the watchtower, watching surveillance videos in and around Arkham, trying to find out where Tony Zucco had run off to.

He sighed and flicked to the next video when he saw nothing out of the ordinary. He allowed his mind to stray, and found himself thinking about his ward. He hadn't seen Robin in a couple of days now. The night before, Robin had called in to say he was going to spend the night at Mount Justice. He never said why.

Batman was happy that Robin thought of the new base as home, but he was beginning to get worried. He could tell something had been wrong with him the other morning, and when he had received a call, Robin hadn't sounded...right. It wasn't his voice that was out of the ordinary, it was the way he worded certain phrases. It was as if he didn't want to speak with Bruce.

Batman could understand the kid not wanting to speak to him. He had heard that most teenagers got like that occasionally, but Robin was not most teenagers. He was a hero, and heroes needed training.

Robin couldn't avoid him forever. After all, Bruce was the one with the gymnasium, and god knows that kid couldn't stay away from the trapeze.

Bruce was into his fifty eighth black and white video when his screen blacked out and was replaced with a blue screen with Aqualad's name on it. The Atlantean was calling him.

He pressed accept and took one last sip of coffee, before hiding it from the camera.

Aqualad's face took up most of the screen, and Bruce could see the other team members in the background. They were on the bioship.

"Why are you out?" He growled, remembering what Aqualad had said a few hours before. If memory served, Bruce could recall the young Atlantean telling him that there was no point in searching for Zucco, so he could only wonder why the team would be on the ship.

"We found Tony Zucco." He replied, looking ashamed rather than proud.

Batman wasn't sure how to react. Reprimand them for going out without telling the league, or praise them for finding the escaped gangster.

But they weren't children. The juvenile Justice League didn't have to acquire permission before leaving the cave.

"Well done. Where is he?" Batman replied finally.

"There is more." Aqualad admitted. "We found him...but we engaged."

Bruce's heart lurched in panic. Black Canary had informed him of Robin's suspected condition. He had told the woman he didn't want Robin going out, let alone engaging in combat!

"What!?" He demanded, and Aqualad flinched.

"Tony Zucco was not normal. Masquerade did something to him, altered something. He was too powerful for us. Robin ran after him and we could not follow."

"Why not?" Bruce asked, not liking where the conversation was going.

"Masquerade was also there. She held us back. KidFlash and M'gann managed to slip past, but when they came back, Robin was unconscious. He had fallen from the roof and hit the fire escape. I do not know how, but I assume it was Tony Zucco...I am sorry something like this occurred under my leadership."

Bruce did not reply, instead getting calmly from his chair and snapping his utility belt around his waist.

"Sir?" Aqualad asked politely as Batman turned his back on the camera.

"I'll meet you back at Mount Justice." He said, fighting to keep his voice steady.

Initially, he felt angry at Black Canary. Then the gravity of the situation hit him. Little Richard, the boy he had adopted at nine, the boy who had experienced the same pain as he, was injured and needed help. Batman would do his best to get there as soon as possible.

Four years ago:

"I don't want to go to that stupid elementary school." A nine year old Dick Grayson protested. He was dressed in Gotham Elementary uniform that was a few sizes to big.

"Dick, I know you never got an education before you came here, and I think it's very important." Bruce argued, trying not to crumble from the look Dick was giving him. That boy gave 'Puppy dog eyes' a whole new meaning.

"Stop trying to pretend they never existed! 'Before I came here' Can't you just say the circus?"

"Okay. I know you never got an education at the circus." Bruce rephrased. He sighed as he thought about Dick's true parents. He wondered if they'd approve of the billionaire Bruce Wayne bringing up their child. Would they thank him, or hate him?

"Uh huh. I'm still not going to that school. Loads of rich kids go there, I won't fit in!" He whined, tugging at his uncomfortable collar that was way too tight. "And this tie is confusing."

Bruce sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Okay...get changed, you don't have to go in-"

"Yes!"

"-Today. However, tomorrow you _will_ be attending that school. Alfred can't tutor you forever." Bruce finished. The billionaire also made a mental note to teach Dick how to do a tie.

"_I _think Alfred is pretty good at tutoring." Richard smirked.

"Thank you, Master Richard. Although may I say, even under my tutorage, you still need to attend school." Alfred said, dusting the fireplace.

Dick ran upstairs and hastily changed into a pair of slacks and a plain polo shirt, before racing back down to meet Bruce. His guardian stood at the foot of the stairs, his arms folded across his chest.

"What is it?" Dick asked curiously, seeing a smirk that Bruce was trying to suppress play on his lips.

"Well, now that we've both got the day off, what would you like to do?" He asked, a grin breaking out on his face.

Dick's eyes lit up. "You really mean it? You got the day off?"

"I sure did." Bruce confirmed.

An unrestrained smile split Dick's face. "Can we do anything...?"

Bruce nodded.

"Then I want to go to the bakery and buy some doughnuts for lunch, and then get that new game that just came out and then I want to-" Dick stopped. He could get all that on his own. There was one thing he missed more than anything. "No. I don't want any of that. Do you have somewhere I can..." He trailed off and looked at his feet, embarrassed.

Bruce kneeled to Dick's height and put a hand on his wards shoulder. "What is it?"

"Somewhere I can do acrobatics?" He asked uncertainly. He had only been at the manor for a couple of months. It seemed wrong to ask for anything so big. But he yearned to do acrobatics once again. It was the only thing he had left of his parents.

Bruce smiled, and picked up his phone and dialing a number.

"Hello Lucius." He greeted, listening for his friends voice on the other end. He chuckled when he received the reply. "I've got a new project for you, and I think it's about time you met Dick."

Dick, Bruce and Lucius Fox spent the whole afternoon putting up acrobatics equipment in the old unused gym. Once they had finished, Alfred brought them doughnuts he had purchased from the Gotham bakery. The three men sat on a pile of mats and ate doughnuts, while Dick crouched atop the platform next to the trapezes. It was the first time he had been on one since the day his parents died. He felt what he had never felt while on the trapeze. He felt scared. He took a deep breath and steadied himself, standing tall and facing the first bar, before jumping and catching it as if he'd never left the circus. A feeling of warm nostalgia washed over him as he did a double flip and caught the next bar. He laughed giddily as he indulged on what he hadn't in a while now. Fun. What Bruce didn't seem to realise was that not just a gymnastics set up could keep Dick satisfied. He needed a loving parental figure in his life, and if Bruce ever showed even a flicker of compassion, perhaps he could be that figure. After the hardship he had been through, Richard Grayson sure could use that sort of guidance.

Bruce listened as the young boy whooped in excitement, performing death defying moves on the equipment.

And for the first time in so long he felt as if he was home.

* * *

Current time:

Mount Justice

Batman had beamed into the cave just as the bioship landed. The Dark Night rushed in, meeting KidFlash as he sped from the ship.

"Where is he?" Batman asked the speedster.

"In the ship. He's got worse. He woke up, but he was delirious and he fell asleep on the way back."

Batman grunted in reply, before climbing onto the ship and taking Robin in his arms, the unconscious teens head lolling on his shoulder.

Wally watched as Batman disappeared into the hall with his ward in his arms. Wally sometimes forgot that Robin _lived_ with Batman. He couldn't imagine the man being a very good father, but as he watched the way he carried Robin with such care, and how he looked so distraught when he saw him, well, the speedster could see why Robin saw Batman that way.

Wally sped into the next room, just as M'gann shut down the bioship and flew urgently after Batman. They met him in the lounge, where he was laying Robin on the couch.

"I need to check him for internal bleeding." Batman said to no one in particular, although the whole team was now present.

Bruce leaned down and listened to his wards breathing. Normal.

He breathed a sigh of relief. If Robin had turned out to have internal bleeding, he could have had permanent mental damage. But just because there were no obvious giveaways didn't mean Robin was completely in the clear. He'd need to get him checked out back at the manor. Alfred was pretty skilled at treating injuries such as this one. Still, that didn't stop the Dark Night worrying about his ward.

"How long has he been unconscious?" He asked Wally.

"Ah, only fifteen minutes or so..."

"Was he easy to wake?"

"I guess so." Wally answered as honestly as he could.

"Good." He said, before turning and facing the team, narrowing his eyes. "Be glad it's not that serious." He growled angrily.

"W-what should we do with him?" M'gann asked nervously, having never seen Batman this angry before.

"_You're_ not going to do anything. _I'm_ going to take him home." Bruce snapped, lifting Robin again, before storming out.

KidFlash stood and heard the computer announce Batman's exit, sighing uneasily.

"I wouldn't want to be Robin right now." Artemis said, letting out a breath of relief.

"I wouldn't want to be us right now" KidFlash gulped. "Batman is totally gonna kill us! And Robin...what's going to happen with him?"

"He is just worried. We were acting under Black Canary's orders. As for Robin...he'll be okay after some rest. Perhaps we should take advantage of the free time to rest too. It has been a long day." Aqualad suggested, before sitting down and closing his eyes.

"Yeah. Rest sounds good. I'll check on Rob tomorrow" He sighed sleepily. Wally slipped from the room and headed to the Zeta beam, more than ready for a day off.

* * *

Wayne manor:

"He's fine, simply a concussion." Alfred said, smiling and offering a mug of tea to Bruce.

Bruce sighed shakily and accepted the tea, sipping and feeling better as the hot liquid warmed him up. "I-"

"I know, sir. You were scared of losing a person close to you. But you cannot remove him from the team." The butler sympathised with his situation. The billionaire wanted to keep Dick safe, and if that meant not allowing the teen to be a part of the superhero community, then so be it.

"If anything happened to him...I don't think I'd be able to live with myself." Bruce imagined what Dick's parents would say if they could see him now. Would they be angry at him for putting their child in danger, or proud to see their son be a hero? He assumed it would be a mix of the two. No parent in their right mind should be able to watch their son do such dangerous things and not be worried. Dick wasn't even his son, and Bruce was sick to the stomach with anguish.

"Can I see him?" He asked his butler, placing his finished tea on a side table.

"You may do as you please, Master Bruce. But do be careful. He may be confused as to how he got there."

"S-sure." Bruce nodded, before turning to the stairs and making his way up to Richard's room. As his foot hit the last step, he stopped and listened. He could hear talking. Bruce's instincts kicked in as he rose to the balls of his feet, muffling his footsteps. Dick's door was almost shut, but Bruce grabbed the doorknob and counted to three, before pushing the door open.

What he saw, he did not expect.

Dick was sitting cross-legged on his bed, the duvet kicked back, and the window pushed wide open. The boy had been talking to himself.

"Dick..."

The teen started as he noticed the billionaire at his door. His eyes widened. "Bruce!"

"What is it?"

"Tony Zucco! He was here! He was talking to me!"

"There's no way that man could have been here, Dick. Calm down." Bruce came and sat on the edge of his ward's bed. "Could you have been dreaming?"

"No. I know what I saw. And what I saw was Tony Zucco. He jumped out the window when he heard you coming."

"The manor has Gotham's most advanced security system. The motion sensors would've notified us if a squirrel made it onto the complex." Bruce sighed. In truth, he was happy to see Dick so active. It meant that he had made a full recovery, and all he had needed was a little rest.

Then he looked back to his ward and started to worry. The teen had pressed himself against the wall, bringing the duvet around his shoulders. His eyes darted about the room, a fearful light sparkling in his blue irises.

"Dick, are you...?" Bruce reached out, but the boy only pushed himself further away.

"No! Don't come near me!" He cried fearfully. "Bruce! Alfred! It's him."

Alfred rushed into the room as fast as a man his age could. "Master Dick, whatever is all the noise about?"

He pointed a quivering but accusing finger at Bruce Wayne. "Tony Zucco is here to kill me!"

"What are you talking about?" Bruce demanded, confused.

"Shut up! Where's Bruce? Alfred?"

Alfred came over to the boy and blocked Bruce from his view. "I shall take care of Mister Zucco. Please rest now, Master Dick."

Richard nodded, laying back on his bed and closing his eyes.

Alfred turned to see that Bruce had slipped out. He exited the room also, closing the door quietly after him. He turned to see his master standing next to him.

"I thought you said he was fine?"

"He was. Until he saw you. I wonder why he thought you were Tony Zucco." Alfred replied.

"I'm going to do some more research into Sophia and Zucco. I'll be at the watchtower if you need me. Look after Richard."

"As you wish." Alfred said, though he knew Bruce's ulterior motives for visiting the Justice League watchtower. He wanted to know what was wrong with Dick, and he would start his search with the league members. He was, after all, a detective.

Bruce nodded and went back to the living room, opening up the entrance to the Batcave. He changed into his costume and took the elevator down two sub-levels, arriving next to the batmobile. He hopped in and revved the engine, thinking back to when Dick had first come to the manor.

Four years ago:

The small boy looked strangely out of proportion in the Wayne manor entrance hall. It was clear to see this boy in shabby clothes did not belong in Bruce Wayne's residence. Nevertheless, the butler had welcomed him in from the pouring rain, along with Bruce himself.

"Thank you for taking me, Mister Wayne." The boy said, a Romanian accent distorting his words slightly. Formality sounded wrong from his mouth, as if he was forcing himself to be polite.

"No problem. It was the least I could do, and I hope you see my home as your own. Would you like to see where you will be staying?" Bruce asked, tiptoeing around eggshells as to not upset the boy.

"Thank you." The boy repeated hollowly, tugging absently on the sleeves of his oversized cotton sweater.

"Come, Master Richard. I shall lead the way." Alfred said with his unfaltering pleasantries, turning and walking up the stairs.

Dick followed, Bruce not far behind.

"So, Dick. What do you like to do for fun?" Bruce offered up a conversation to his new ward.

"I like to do acrobatics. What is going to happen to Mister Haley's circus now?" The child asked, his blue eyes shimmering.

"Well, he's going to talk to the police for a while about what happened, then he's going to move the circus on. He gives you his condolences."

"Condolences?"

"He's apologising for the death of your parents." Bruce clarified.

"Oh."

And any attempts to start conversation were stalled at the mention of the boys parents.

Bruce looked down at his ward, but his eyes were downcast, tears streaming down his face.

"Dick." Bruce murmured, touching the boys shoulder. He stopped walking and crouched to the boys level, catching his tearful gaze. "It's hard losing someone you love, trust me, I know." He started, empathy, an emotion Bruce didn't often show, creeping into his voice. He took Dick's hand and sat him down on a chair in the hall. "And I know it's not easy coming to such a different place after living for nine years at the circus, but I want you to know that you have a home here. It's not the circus...and I could never replace your parents. Just don't become what I did."

"What do you mean?" Dick asked curiously, wiping his eyes.

"I mean, don't live your life waiting to get revenge. Bring justice, not vengeance." Bruce had thought he'd gone to far with what he'd said, but the boy looked up at him with such understanding.

"Okay Mister Wayne. I will." The child said, a ghost of a smile twitching at his lips. He jumped down from the chair and followed Alfred into his new room.

Bruce watched as the boy placed his few belongings in the bare room, before sitting on the bed and looking at a picture of his parents he had received from Mister Haley. He cried freely, curling up on the bed and sobbing into the pillow, his hands clutching the photo as if it was his only thing left.

"Oh, Master Richard..." Alfred sighed, before disappearing from the room, leaving the young boy to mourn.

Bruce and his butler went back downstairs, talking in hushed tones.

"Are you just going to leave him in there?" Alfred asked.

"What do you expect me to do?" Bruce frowned.

"You need to talk to him, make him feel better."

"I don't know what to say..." Bruce admitted.

"You'll know when it comes to it." Alfred said cryptically, going to the kitchen to prepare hot milk. He stirred honey into it and placed it on a tray, bringing it up to Dick. Bruce followed.

The boy accepted the beverage, relaxing as it warmed his grief stricken body.

Bruce decided he would let the boy mourn for tonight, and talk to him tomorrow. After all, time healed a broken heart.

Several hours later, Bruce was falling asleep, trying to ignore Dick's heart wrenching pleas for his parents. Time healed a broken heart, but it would take more if he didn't have the all the pieces. He knew Dick needed closure.

And that was why Bruce had gone after Tony Zucco.

* * *

Current time:

Watchtower

Batman beamed into the Watchtower, nearly knocking Flash over as he made his way to the main conference room. He decided he'd start with Red Tornado, since he was the one supervising the team. Bruce approached the android, but he held up one hand to silence him before Bruce could get a word out.

"I did not tell the Young Justice League to pursue Masquerade or Tony Zucco. Black Canary did."

"I know. This is about something else. Have you noticed any changes in Robin's behavior recently?"

"I am not tuned with the understanding of human behavior. Perhaps it would be better if you asked another human for an opinion on a subject such as that." Red Tornado explained, before turning and sitting down at the table, checking for any problems in the world on the computer.

"Fine. Thanks anyway." Bruce grunted, moving to find Black Canary. He found her in the arena, where they fought against each other in training. It was similar to the one in Mount Justice.

Black Canary jumped back as Wonderwoman launched a punch at her. She then rolled to the side and delivered a low kick to Diana's stomach. She grunted in pain, but held her ground, catching Black Canary's arm as she threw a punch. Wonderwoman used her weight to pull her over her shoulder and slam her onto the ground.

The arena's computer registered Black Canary's efforts as a fail. Diana offered her hand and pulled the other woman up. They turned and noticed Batman.

"What is it?" Diana asked curiously, approaching the Dark Night.

"Black Canary, with me." He requested, before turning on his heel and leaving.

The woman did as he asked, following Bruce out of the arena. Once they got back to the entrance hall, Batman pulled her to the side.

"Have you noticed anything wrong with Robin recently?" He asked.

She looked at him with intense eyes, but she could not hold his gaze. She averted her eyes and took a deep breath.

"I'll take that as a yes." Said Bruce, noticing Black Canary's behavior.

"He's been acting strangely ever since Wally picked him up from his school..."

"His school? How did he know where Robin went to-"

"I don't know, but that isn't the problem." She said firmly. She explained about what had happened with Robin, and how her session with him had gone.

"Why didn't you tell me?" He asked, but he didn't sound angry, just let down and weary.

"You were always so busy...I just didn't want to disturb you." She said apologetically.

"What do I do with him? He thought I was Zucco." Bruce said hopelessly.

"He needs medication, proper treatment, and above all, you need to stop treating him like two separate beings. You need to let him tell his friends who he really is. Just the kids in the team, at least." She pleaded in concern for Robin.

"I can do the medication, and the treatment...but reveal his secret identity?"

"Wally already knows, it's just the rest of the team. Let him take the mask off."

"Fine. But if I get enemies knocking on my door, I'll be blaming you. You can kiss your place on the team goodbye." He growled, crossing his arms and waiting for a reply.

Black Canary's heart lurched at the notion of being kicked off the team, but she swallowed her pride and nodded. "Okay."

"Now that's cleared up, I'm going to take the fight to Zucco. He's a coward to attack my partner, and I'll make sure he gets that message." Bruce stated, beaming out of the Watchtower.

Black Canary let out a breath of relief. She was sure Batman would kick her off the team immediately after she kept something so big from him. There was a no nonsense rule with Robin. If anyone messed him around, they'd have the Bat to answer to. Black Canary pitied anyone who had to deal with the vigilante side of Bruce. She was lucky to be on the good side of the law.

* * *

Wayne Manor:

Robin had slept for barely two hours, in fitful stops and starts. He finally gave up and sat, watching the driveway out of his window. The car was still parked in front of the manor, but he had heard Bruce leave. That meant he had gone via the Batcave. He must've been on his way to either Mount Justice, or the Watchtower. He sighed and fell back against his pillow, immediately regretting being so careless. The back of his head throbbed violently, and his vision blurred slightly. A wave of nausea swept over him. He whimpered softly as he waited for his sight to clear, turning his side lamp on as he realised it had gotten dark.

His heart lurched as he heard his floorboards creak slightly.

"W-who's there?" He whispered into the shadows. He relaxed as he heard no more, but a figure appeared from the dark, illuminated by Dick's bedside light.

"Hello, little Robin." Masquerades voice rasped.

* * *

**Ah jeez, I'm sorry for the cliffhanger-ish ending... I have something in mind for the next chapter an I didn't want to give it away. **

**I'm gonna thank all my followers so thanks to;**

**ArkieR DaughterOfTheSeaGod1 Deweline FishesEat Trees FlightfootKeyseeker LaurenHardy13 MrBgRedD Nightwing15 RDFitzy RandomGirl287 RobinsRuleTheWorld messie23 secret00 summer164**

**Sorry about that...heh. See you next time!**

**Saff x **


	5. Renewed Resolve

**Hello :3 It's been a while, hasn't it? Well, I wrote a longer chapter to make up for it. I think it's kinda confusing, but enjoy anyway. Please review with ideas, suggestions, or just general feedback. The more feedback, the quicker the update :) - Now it feels like I'm blackmailing you... Ah well, I can live with that MUHAHAHAHAAA!**

* * *

Wayne Manor:

Robin took a deep breath and regained composition. He didn't know why he'd been so skittish lately, but he figured it hap something to do with his developing psychological disorder, but even that couldn't effect him that greatly, could it?

He steadied his voice and replied. "What do you want?" He asked cooly, sounding irritated.

She seemed mildly surprised at his tone, but stepped forward and smiled. "I'm here to tell you where our friend Tony is."

Robin frowned, and donned his sunglasses from his bedside table as he replied. "And why would you do that?"

"Don't you want revenge, Robin?" She asked, her grin widening.

Robin thought back to what Bruce had told him on his first day at the Manor. Bring justice, not vengeance. "No. I want him to be brought to justice."

"Oh come now, we all know thats not what you really think, is it?" She asked, although she made it sound more like a statement.

Robin appeared confused. The anger that he had felt when Tony had ended his parents lives came flooding back. Suddenly irrational decisions didn't seem so irrational. If Masquerade told him where Zucco was, he could see that the gangster was put away. Permanently.

"Tell me where he is." He growled, jumping out of bed. His head spun and he felt vertigo kick in, but he ignored it, gritting his teeth against the slight discomfort.

"Attaboy." She praised, handing him a small device. A red light throbbed on the screen, slowly weaving through computer generated streets.

"Tracker." Robin commented.

"Yup. I planted it into the device that gives him his powers."

"That was you?"

"Well, I don't like to brag..."

Robin groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose, a trait he had picked up from Batman. "This feels so wrong. Casual conversation with the enemy? Batman would kill me if he knew you were here. Hey, that reminds me, how did you get past the security?"

"I hacked the motion sensors."

"Oh, that is _so _my thing." He complained, accepting the pocket size device. "You never did tell me why you wanted Tony Zucco brought to justice."

"It doesn't matter. I kept my side of the deal. I told you where Tony is. Now go get him."

Robin looked suspicious, but held his tongue. It was an opportunity that he couldn't afford to miss. Who knew what other peoples lives the gangster might devastate if Robin allowed him to roam free. No, the man needed to be brought to justice.

He grabbed his costume and changed in the bathroom, before returning to the room for his utility belt. Masquerade still stood in the middle of the room, blending in with the shadows.

"How am I going to get out without Bruce finding out? He may be...away, but he'll get a notification if I leave the building. What do I do?" He asked, using Bruce's name since he figured she must have found out somehow. He felt he should be scared that someone found him that easily, but he was past caring. Tony Zucco needed to be brought down and if that meant slipping out and going after him without Bruce's consent, well, he couldn't care less.

"I thought you were the Boy Wonder. You'll figure something out." She said, patting him on the shoulder.

Robin frowned and jerked away, turning to the window. "Hey-" He said, but stopped as he noticed Masquerade had vanished. "Perfect." He muttered.

He felt a strange sensation course through his body, along with a mild sting in his hand. He looked, but his hand was perfectly fine. he shrugged and brushed it off, instead, thinking of how he could get out of the Manor.

_Maybe I can just get out via the Batcave. I don't think there are any cameras or sensors in the vehicle exit, so I should be able to slip out from there._

Robin snapped his utility belt around his waist and pulled on his cape, before creeping from his room and down the hallway. He stepped lightly, although he knew only Alfred was in the house. Alfred would probably tell Bruce if he left the manor, so he'd rather avoid the butler. He jogged downstairs and slipped into the kitchen, using it as a short cut to get to the living room, and past that, Bruce's office.

He opened the door, and took in the musty smell of books. It was dark, although he knew that there was a desk in the center of the room. He stuck to the shadows, avoiding the light that had been cast into the office upon opening the door. The only other light source was the blue computer screen that sat on Bruce's desk.

"Dick?"

Robin jumped and stumbled back into the bookcase, sending books scattering across the floor.

"Master Dick!" Alfred yelled, jumping up from behind the computer screen. He helped Robin off the floor and flicked on the light. Robin groaned and pushed some books off of himself and jumped up, instantly alert.

"What are you doing here?" He asked in hushed tones, although he knew he wasn't in any danger of alerting anyone of his presence.

"I could ask you the same thing. I thought you were supposed to be resting. Where are you off to?" Alfred demanded, grabbing him by the wrist before he could flip back the statue on the desk and open the entrance to the Batcave.

"I-I...I'm going out?" He tried, squirming from Alfred's gasp, and pushing the button and waiting for the panel in front of the grandfather clock to slide back.

"Not good enough." He said sternly. Alfred studied the younger boy for a while and shook his head. "You're going to go after Tony, aren't you?"

Dick seemed to weigh up his odds, before nodding in defeat.

"I thought so. And I suppose you haven't asked Master Bruce for permission, either."

Again, Dick shook his head and ran a hand through his hair nervously. "No. But you can't stop me."

Alfred sighed wearily. "Fine. Okay, but I'm going to tell Master Bruce and he _will_ come after you eventually. I know you're not a child anymore but..." He shook his head. "It just doesn't seem right that I'm letting you go in your condition. Couldn't you at least rest for another hour or so?"

"No! I need to go now." Dick said angrily, standing his ground. He's waited so long for this moment, to be able to bring Zucco to justice. He got knocked out at the last opportunity, but he wasn't about to fail this time. "Don't you understand? He's out there, he could be hurting people! I need to go."

Alfred looked dejected, his eyes that had seen so much were downcast. "You sound so much like Bruce when he was younger. Please don't end up like him. Please don't become _the_ Batman." (Hehe, sorry young justice, kinda nicked that one from you)

"I don't understand what you mean." Robin admitted.

"And so it should stay that way." He said seriously, before smiling slightly. "You'd better get going. Master Bruce shall be returning soon, and it wouldn't do well to get caught, now would it?"

"I s'pose not. See you, Alfred. And thanks." He muttered, before stepping into the elevator down to the Batcave. He didn't have to wait long before the elevator hit the ground floor with a pneumatic hiss. He made his way over to the armory, grabbing everything red and resembling a weapon, and also some small devices that were not yet completed, but he had been tinkering with a couple of days prior. He picked up a couple of the devices, before slamming his fist against the emergency release to the door to the chamber that contained the Batmobile.

He wasn't going to take a vehicle, all of them had tracers implanted in the engines. It would be way too easy to find him if Batman knew exactly where he was driving, plus if he took a motorcycle, he wasn't sure he could get there fast enough. It was rush hour in Gotham city and even Robin had to abide to the rules of not driving like the Joker with a death wish down the highways.

He let his eyes linger on his shiny red motorbike, but he shook his head. He would have to go about this the old fashioned rooftop-grapple hook way. He ran past the garage and through the exit, which led out to a thought-to-be abandoned cave in the side of the cliff face below Wayne Manor. He ran through the tunnel, finding his way with the luminescent lighting that lined either side of the cave. Although it was quite a long way, he reached the end in record time.

He stepped out and pushed past the overgrown vines that hid the tunnel from plain view, and he looked up at the bright stars in the sky that weren't visible from the city. He wondered how they could just hang there, every night without fail, even with everything that went on in the world. It seemed strange that all those years ago when he sat on the roof of his trailer staring at those same stars. He felt like they knew him better than anyone at the moment.

* * *

Central CIty:

Bruce had come back down from the watchtower and beamed over to central city, where he knew Wally was visiting his uncle. He had thought about what Black Canary had told him, and had decided to bring Wally back to Wayne Manor with him. He didn't exactly approve of it, but he figured it was for the good of Dick's health, and he could trust Wally and his family.

Bruce rounded a corner and saw a house with it's lights on. It was pretty dark, so Batman could easily see inside. He saw Wally's parents had come as well as their son. He slipped round the back of the house and found a window, and, retrieving a tool from his utility belt, picked the lock.

He jumped into the room, his footsteps silent after years of stealth missions. He pulled back his hood and removed his cape, before slipping on a shirt. He then looked around. He appeared to be in a child's bedroom, but it was old, and smelled of dusty, untouched furniture. He dumped his costume beneath the bed and pulled open the door, walking out into the hallway.

He saw the stairs and headed towards them, but was intercepted by KidFlash bursting out the bathroom.

"What are you...?" He stuttered. He'd never seen Batman out of the costume. "Barry?"

"Yeah?" His uncle called back.

Bruce stayed glued to the spot.

"Why is Bruce Wayne in your house?"

"Bruce?" Barry repeated, before rushing up the stairs. It hardly took a split second, though, and soon enough, Flash stood next to his nephew.

"Hello Barry." Bruce greeted with a million-dollar grin.

"B-bats? What are you doing here?" He asked, surprised.

He shrugged. "I was in the area."

"Bats? Do you mean...?" Wally didn't need to finish, as Barry nodded.

"Bruce is Batman."

"_That's_ how you two are so close. I didn't know Rob ran around with his adoptive father as the dynamic duo...I guess it makes sense why you were so worried about Rob now."

Bruce's smile fell at the reminder of his ward. "Yes, well, Dick is the reason I'm here. I need your help."

"Sure, whatever you need." Barry replied a little too eagerly, producing a big grin.

"Not you. Wally. I need you to talk to Dick. He's a little...confused at the moment and he needs some guidance."

"Why me? He's lived with you for four years." The teen said, although he wasn't complaining.

Bruce sighed. "Dick thought I was Zucco. He's terrified of me and won't let me in his room, let alone talk to me. And Alfred can't talk to him. Dick needs a friend, and your the only one who _knows_ Robin."

Barry looked shocked, while Wally simply nodded. "I'll do it. Not because you asked me to, but because I'm Robin _and_ Dick's friend. And I get to see Wayne manor." He said, getting slightly exited towards the end.

Bruce chuckled uneasily.

"But there's one thing that has me confused. Why did you sneak in? Why not just use the front door?" Barry asked, stopping Bruce from taking his leave.

Bruce studied Flash for a second, before replying. "I'm a detective." He muttered, as if it was obvious, before grabbing Wally and exiting through the room in which he had entered.

Flash arched an eyebrow in mild amusement at Batman's covert antics. He guessed the man had been a detective for so long, he sneaked into anywhere but his own house.

"Barry? We're carving the chicken." His sister called from downstairs.

"Yeah, coming." He called back, before rushing downstairs and meeting his family.

"Where's Wally?" His brother asked, in the midst of serving the vegetables.

"Uh...out?" He tried, but gave in under his sisters' death glare. He had experienced the same look after Wally had ended up in hospital because he wanted to be like Barry. "Batman came and collected him." He explained.

His sister sighed and shook her head. "He didn't even take some chicken with him. I worked hard on that chicken."

Barry chuckled and shrugged. "I'll take his share if you don't want it to go to waste."

"Are you sure you can eat that much?"

"High metabolism" He replied.

"Of course." She deadpanned, and began cutting a sizable chunk of the bird for Flash.

* * *

Gotham City:

Bruce and Wally had beamed from the central city Zeta and came over to Gotham.

"I never knew there was a Zeta here too." Wally commented offhandedly.

"It would make sense, since me and Robin both protect Gotham city." Bruce replied, making Wally sound like an idiot for ever speaking.

He didn't feel bad. Batman tended to have that effect on people. He followed Bruce as he pulled back the folding glass that enclosed them into the Zeta. They both stepped out, emerging into the cool Gotham air.

Although they were in the same country, the difference between Central and Gotham city was immediately apparent. The Gotham air felt exactly like her protecter. Dark and intimidating.

Wally supposed Bruce found it comforting to be back on home turf, but it gave him shivers down his spine as he watched the street lamps flicker unwelcomely, and the shadows of street walkers appear across the walls.

Bruce paced confidently in front, hailing a taxi. Wally frowned at Bruce as if to explain that he could just run to Bruce Manor.

The billionaire shook his head and held the door open for him. He shrugged and complied, while the taxi driver looked on in awe as Bruce Wayne held the door open for a teenager.

He handed the driver a substantial amount of money and asking to be taken to Wayne manor.

The taxi driver smiled maniacally as he accepted his sum of dollar bills, turning the car around and heading up to the grand building that looked over Gotham City.

Bruce turned to Wally and decided to make casual conversation. Truth be told, he was nervous revealing his secret identity _and_ his home to Wally West. He hadn't even shown most of the people in the league the inside of his house, and he wasn't sure how to act.

"Do you know why I make Robin keep his true identity to himself while you all tell each other yours?" He asked, sounding troubled, but unsure at the same time. even now he questioned whether it was the best thing to do.

"Uh...not really. I always just assumed you did it to protect your own identity." Wally felt bad. When Bats had left Mount Justice with the unconscious Robin, Artemis had asked why his eyes had looked so familiar. He had told her the truth, that Robin was actually Dick Grayson. Considering the situation, it had seemed like the right thing to do at the time, but now Wally was having second thoughts. Hopefully Artemis wouldn't tell anyone else on the team who Robin really was, nor think of him any differently.

Bruce shrugged casually. "It was partly that, but also I wanted to protect Dick. I know he trusted _you_ with his identity, but he never showed you how he looked outside of the costume. He doesn't want people to see the real him. The weak boy who watched as his parents were taken from him, and he believes if you see him as Dick Grayson, you'll also see him as my spoiled son, and the poor orphan that needs sympathy." He paused to see if Wally was taking all this in. He appeared to be listening, which surprised Bruce slightly. "He likes to just get on with the mission as Robin, and have no strings attached. Nothing to overcomplicate things. Well, it seems as if avoiding the overcomplicated was the very thing that led to his downfall."

Wally wasn't listening, and as Bruce looked up, he saw that the teen was gesturing frantically at the taxi driver.

He had heard everything that Bruce had just said.

Bruce smiled at the driver, and he turned his attention back on the road. They were just pulling up the drive to Wayne Manor. Bruce got out the taxi and gave him more money to apologise for the long journey, before throwing a pellet of knock-out gas on the floor, and catching the man as he crumpled to the floor.

"How are you gonna stop him from knowing that you're Batman?" Wally asked curiously, eyeing the unconscious man with a reserved sympathy.

"I've got something for that." He said, though he didn't mean it as a joke. He most definitely did have something for 'that'.

Bruce slung the man back into the taxi, opening a small packet of foul smelling liquid and waving it under the mans nose. He twitched slightly, but didn't wake up.

"Made it in the lab. It erases thirty minutes of memory." Bruce answered Wally's inevitable question.

"Right." Wally nodded, before following Bruce into the manor, eager to see what it would be like.

It definitely wasn't an anti-climax, that's for sure. If anything, the ginormous entrance hall was worth getting exited for on it's own. It was a strange mix of modern and old, but somehow it worked. Wally wondered if Bruce had designed it. He didn't seem like the creative type, but one could never know with Batman.

Bruce tapped the comms button, linking him with Alfred's communicator.

"Yes, Master Bruce?" The old butler's voice crackled through the speaker.

"Hello Alfred. Could you tell Dick that he has a visitor?" He asked.

"I'm afraid not. Master Dick left the Manor just under an hour ago."

"What? And you let him!?" He yelled suddenly, catching Wally's attention.

"Well, there isn't much I could do against a boy who has spent his life in a circus. He made it clear to me that he was going and that I couldn't do anything about it, and he was right." Alfred explained apologetically.

"Fine." Bruce grunted. "Did he say where he would be going?"

"Actually, yes, he did." Alfred confirmed. "He said he would be going after Tony Zucco."

"Damn it!" Bruce cursed, making Wally jump. "I'm going to go look for him." He took his finger off the comms and looked to Wally, who had heard the whole conversation.

"I"ll come." He suggested hopefully.

Bruce shook his head. "Tony Zucco was dangerous before, and now you say he's been given some sort of healing power. That makes him almost impossible to defeat. I'll go on my own."

"But I know exactly where Robin is right now." He said, holding up his communicator with the tracking blip on the screen.

"Rookie error. He didn't disable the tracking chip in his communicator." Bruce breathed disbelievingly.

"Shall we go?" Wally prompted.

"Fine. You can come, just stay out of my way."

"Does this mean I get to ride the Batmobile?" He asked hopefully.

"Okay...whatever." Bruce mumbled, turning and leading the way to his office. He saw that the elevator to the Batcave had already been activated. He called it up and stepped in, moving over for KidFlash and selecting the floor on which the Batmobile was kept.

Wally gasped in awe as the different levels of the Batcave whizzed by. He got a good look at the lab, although he made a mental note to come back and explore it more thoroughly one day.

The elevator came to a stop on sub-level three, where the Batmobile and other vehicles were kept. Bruce stepped out first, leading the way to the garage. He hardly acknowledged that the emergency door had been opened. Robin had come out this way.

He jogged over and jumped in the Batmobile.

Wally circled the car, jaw on the floor, as he admired the technology. He'd never seen the Batmobile before, but he never knew it was so...shiny. He was jealous of Robin for getting to drive shotgun in this thing, but now he got a go!

He sighed and opened the door. It wasn't a time to get overexcited about things. He was meant to be saving Robin.

"Do you know where he is?" Bruce asked, pulling his cowl over his head.

"Yeah. His tracer puts him at...Arkham Asylum." Wally rattled off the name of the place, although he had never been there, nor heard of it.

"There?" Bruce asked as if Robin was there. "Of all the high security prisons you could go to, why the one with all your enemies in the cells?"

"Where's Arkham. I've never heard of it."

"It's always better for it to stay that way." He grunted in reply, before slamming his foot down on the accelerator, listening the the engine roar loudly. The dark car zoomed down the tunnel, and although KidFlash knew for a fact that he could go faster than the car, it was a close call. The car was _fast_.

Bruce didn't seem to be there for the joy ride, though, as he drove the Batmobile with a completely straight face. He steered the vehicle down the weaving decent into Gotham, before inconspicuously joining the other cars on the highway.

Wally looked out of the slim window, watching the light from the street lamps as the drove by. He wondered what the rest of the team could be doing at that moment. Maybe they were out on a mission. In a way, so was he.

He thought about whether he should contact them and let them know where he was, what with all the criminals on the loose lately.

Wally reached for the communicator and started to type the dialing code for Mount Justice, but he was stopped short by Batman.

"Don't. Robin doesn't want the whole team coming after him." He told him.

"How would you know? I'm starting to think Robin ran away to get away from you." He said accusingly, eyes narrowing. He knew he really shouldn't be testing a leaguers patience, especially not Batman's.

Instead of shouting like Wally thought he would, Bruce simply sighed. "Me too." He said. "But I don't think he ran away. He's gone after Zucco, but the last time I saw him he was too weak to move. Somebody must've given him something, or even said something, and I very much doubt it was Alfred. I'll have to review the security tapes when I get back, but first we need to get Robin out of there. No matter what condition he's in, he can't defeat Zucco alone, not with his healing factor."

Wally nodded, before numbly returning his gaze to the window. He was way in over his head, but he had to help Robin. He couldn't freak out about fighting Zucco.

* * *

Mount Justice:

Artemis had briefly returned home after Robin was taken back by Batman, but she had come to the cave for some training. Well, she had come back to see if there was any news on how their teammate was doing, and to find out where Zucco had made off to, but she happened to get caught up in a training exercise with M'gann.

She managed to catch Miss Martian's uniform with one of her arrows, but the Martian had phased free. It was tricky when even her clothing was a part of her and would react to her thoughts.

Artemis notched another arrow and drew it back, before releasing it. It exploded on impact, a red liquid released, before it expanded and hardened, leaving Miss Martian entrapped within it. She couldn't density shift yet, so she was stuck.

Artemis fired another arrow, shattering the high density polyethylene. Miss Martian fell to the floor and the computer announced a failure.

"Good luck next time M'gann, but you're just not good enough." She boasted friendlily.

"No. That's what I'm afraid of." M'gann replied seriously, thinking back to her battle with Masquerade.

"M'gann, nobody did any better than you did. Stop blaming yourself for what happened." Artemis comforted, putting an arm over her friends shoulder.

"The teams falling apart." M'gann sighed shakily, sounding sorrowful and empty. "Robin isn't well, Wally's gone after Robin, I'm no good to anyone and Super Boy and Aqualad are discussing tactics without us."

"We'll catch Zucco _and_ help Robin. Don't worry, all teams go through a rough patch-"

Artemis was cut short by the Zeta beam activating.

"Speedy. B-06." It announced.

"How many times have I told you to change that? I'm Red Arrow now." He muttered irritably, shooting Artemis a dirty glare as he walked past.

The two archers stared each other down, Artemis eventually backing down and shaking her head.

"Why are you here?" She demanded, still sneering at him.

"Because I want to know why I caught a couple bad guys that I don't know about trying to make off with technology from Cadmus labs."

"You caught them?" Artemis asked, wanting to know if it was Masquerade and Tony.

"Not exactly. Caught them on security cameras. They're good. Didn't set off a single alarm." He said, sounding almost jealous of their skill.

"Could we see the video?" M'gann asked.

"Why? Can't we just go and get them now?"

"No. Not until we know who they are. And we think we know who they are." Artemis chipped in, holding out her hand for the tape.

Red Arrow reluctantly handed it over, watching as Artemis took it from him roughly and shoved it in the disk drive for the computer. The video tape popped up immediately and M'gann clicked on it, before bringing it full screen. It showed Masquerade alright. But not Tony.

There was another man with her, but he was skinny and had messy brown hair and unshaven stubble on his chin. He looked quite young.

"Pause it." Artemis commanded.

M'gann hit the pause button and the two figures froze.

"Who are they?" Red Arrow asked, gesturing to the people on the screen.

"The woman's Masquerade. You can read a report on her and her powers...but the man? No idea. never seen him before. I wonder if he's like her?"

"I hope not." M'gann whispered.

"Megan, you can't be scared. Not now. We _need _to know what their planning, and I don't like how Zucco and Masquerade are targeting Robin so much." Artemis said sternly, but her voice held worry.

She really thought the two villains intended to kill Robin, and if Robin was Dick Grayson like Wally had said...well, that just gave Tony a motive. Robin had survived the attack on his family, then become a hero. Of course the gangster would want to get revenge on him.

But that still didn't explain why Sophia Bellagio had got involved. She had a feud with Batman, okay, but that was before Robin was around. What could she possibly have against Robin?

_Unless...unless she was acting on orders. _Artemis thought to herself. She couldn't tell the team her musings, though. She'd have to tell them about Dick Grayson, and Wally had made her swear she wouldn't tell anyone, and she didn't really want to have her butt kicked by Batman either.

To think, she'd bumped into Dick Grayson in Gotham Academy. How could she have not seen? But they were so different. Dick was a goody-two-shoes geeky rich kid, while Robin was a brave, intelligent hero. She could see why Robin was so mixed up about his two personalities. Even she was confused about them.

"So what do we do?" M'gann asked. More than ever, they needed their team leader. They needed Aqualad.

"Don't ask me. We need the _whole _team on this one." Artemis said, before making her way to the living room (Do Americans call it a living room? Sitting room? Agh! I'm so English!) to collect them.

She reemerged with Aqualad and Connor in tow, leading them to the computer. They crowded around the screen as they watched the footage again.

"Who is the man that is accompanying Masquerade?" Aqualad asked.

"We don't know. But we're going to find out." Artemis assured him. "But we need you to lead us. Lately, you've been distracted. I don't know why. I don't care why, but we need you now."

"I am sorry that I came across that way. I will be sure to treat you better from now on." The Atlantean formally apologised, before turning to face the team. "We have all seen the video brought in by Red Arrow, and we must act on this. We cannot allow it to go on for any longer, or else people will get hurt."

"But what can we do?" Asked Miss Martian. "The last time we fought her, we lost, and brought Robin home almost dead."

"We didn't have a plan. But this time we will." He assured her, bringing up Masquerade's file. "Masquerade's powers come from a small device implanted in her brain. If we take that out, she had no way of fighting us."

"And how do you suppose we disable something that's implanted in her brain without killing her? And I don't think she's stand still for long enough for us to take it out surgically." Red Arrow said sarcastically.

"No, but Robin gave me an idea."

"And what would that be?"

"He was tinkering with one of his mini-explosives the other day, and he left it behind. Black Canary told me to investigate deeper into everything Robin had been doing in the past few days, and upon further analysis, I saw that it wasn't just an explosive. It was a concentrated EMP blast, one that would knock out any technology within a twenty meter radius." Aqualad explained, producing a small object with it's casing hanging off it.

"That doesn't look finished." Super Boy commented. "Or safe."

"There was only one of these, so we'll have to use it on exactly the right moment. Once Robin is back in action, we can ask him to make another one to take out Tony's implantation as well." The Atlantean said, and the team murmured in agreement.

"I can fix the casing back up, although I don't know how this thing works." Red Arrow admitted, taking the device from him.

"Don't worry about that. Robin made that easy to see."

Red Arrow looked closer at the small device, and noticed a big red button on the side. "Oh that's just cliché."

"No. _Thats_ Robin." Artemis chuckled.

"Should we tell Batman that we're going on a mission?" Asked M'gann.

"No. Batman doesn't need to know. He wouldn't let us go if we told him." Red Arrow replied before Aqualad could get a word in.

"We?" Super Boy said. "You mean you're in?"

"Yeah. I haven't had a mission in a while, and...I haven't seen KF or Robin either, so it'd be good to come."

"Neither KidFlash nor Robin will be joining us on this mission. Robin is unwell at the moment, and KidFlash is with him for the moment. It is just us."

"What happened?"

"It's a long story." Artemis began, but stopped short. She felt like she had invaded Robin's privacy too much already. "But don't worry about that. We need to stop those two before they do anymore damage."

"Let us go." Aqualad said, leading the team to the bioship.

* * *

Arkham Asylum:

Robin crouched on a rooftop to the left of Arkham asylum, peering over the large imprisonment facility. He wished he'd been a little more prepared, but had only brought what he had needed at the time. He sighed. Things would have been easier if he had just brought his night vision binoculars with him. He could almost see them sitting on the stainless steel table next to the Bat computer.

Well, it was too late for that now.

It seemed he didn't need special equipment to find Zucco. Someone had to be blowing the doors off of cells and letting inmates out, and the locator that Masquerade had given him showed him on exactly this spot.

Robin put the locator away and jumped off the edge of the building, landing on a roof below and rolling as he hit to reduce impact.

He was surprised that he had recovered so fast. He had thought he would be fatigued on leaving the mansion, but if anything, he felt more awake than he had in days. He pushed his thoughts aside, instead dropping down to street level and staying out of the light of the street lamps.

Robin figured he could probably just walk straight through the front door. They'd probably give him clearance, especially as the prisoners were escaping. It didn't matter. He didn't want the other criminals, he wanted Tony.

Robin turned on his heel and headed towards the reception, if you could call it that. It was a small entrance hall with a guarded desk in the middle. He pushed open the door, but there was no one at the desk. (A/N: Here comes the reason I rated it T)

He jumped over the desk and landed, ready to find Tony, but stopped when it felt sticky underfoot. He looked down and his hand flew to his mouth at what he saw.

The guard was dead, laying in a puddle of his own blood. Robin didn't have to look far to see his cause of death. His neck was snapped clean in half.

Robin tore his gaze from the dead man and rounded the corner, feeling very weak at the knees. There was only one man strong enough to do that to an innocent man.

Tony Zucco.

If Robin didn't have a reason to go after Tony before, well, now he definitely did. The boy wonder broke into a run, following the bleeping of the locator. The gangster was going down tonight, one way or another.

Robin ran his thumb over the concentrated EMP blast bomb that would take out Tony's implantation. It was a comfort to him to know he held some leverage over the man who had made him feel so helpless. Now it was Zucco's turn to feel helpless.

* * *

**Now wasn't that a cheerie chapter? Not really. Ah well. I ****_was_**** going to answer some reviews down here but nooooooooo. My email's playing up again and my iPod is crashing every time I try to view my mail. Stupid Ios 7 ^.^ **

**See you in the next chapter!**

**Saff x **


	6. The Boy Murderer

**Hey there! I apologise for taking so long to update this, buuuuuuuuuuut I was busy watching season two of Young Justice and crying because of what happened to Wally... **

**ArkieR - Yes! I'm English, though I try to write in American style because it feels more like Young Justice if I do :3 **

**And to people who aren't ArkieR - enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

4 years ago:

"Now that you know my secret...and we took down Tony Zucco together, maybe you should-"

"Look, I know you're not going to be around that much, and that's okay now that I know why." Richard muttered. "Just don't get rid of me."

"That's not what I meant. I would never..." Bruce trailed off sadly. He was thinking about the anger that his ward had shown when they had found the man who had killed his parents. A certain fire had ignited in his eyes, one that Bruce never thought he would find in a nine-year-old's eyes. It had scared him, but he knew that anger had been bottled up for weeks, and he had an idea for what could stop him from feeling that way again. "What I was going to say was; I want you to join me."

"What do you mean?" Dick asked, looking over the circus in which he no longer resided. He cast a backward glance at Batman.

"I mean, I want you to be my partner." He clarified.

"What? Really?" He asked enthusiastically, before eyeing up the cape. "Can I wear a cape too?"

"Yes. You can wear whatever you want, as long as it protects your identity. Now, I can't call you Dick when we're working. What do you want me to call you?"

He smiled as the police walked out of the circus tent, Zucco in tow. "How about Robin?" He suggested, in remembrance of his mother before her final performance.

"Why 'Robin'? Isn't that a bird?"

"Exactly. Just like a bird, just like a Flying Grayson." He said, watching as his parents' murderer was brought to justice. A feeling of easiness settled over him and he laughed, a little reverberating chuckle. It was the first he had laughed in a long time. "It's stupid, believe me, I know, but my parents would want it."

Bruce peered down at his ward and offered a smile. Dick grinned in reply and turned away, walking to the Batmobile that had just emerged from the streets on autopilot.

With one glance back at the circus, Dick muttered in Romanian, "Am dori ca ei să se întoarcă la mine." (English-I wish they would return to me.)

* * *

Arkham Asylum:

Robin slipped into the shadows and followed the signs to the solitary cells, where Zucco was according to the locator. He kept one hand on the EMP and another on his utility belt as he made his way up the stairs. Prisoners rushed past him, though they didn't stop to fight him, and he didn't try to stop them. He was outnumbered, and there was only one prisoner he was after.

He rounded a corner and saw another guard slumped against the wall. Dick used his cape to cover his mouth and stepped over the corpse, trying to avert his gaze from the guards bulging eyes. He followed the trail of carnage until he came to Zucco. He was in the process of opening another cell, with force.

"I don't remember you being that strong before. Did you get another upgrade, Zucco?" Robin taunted, making Tony jump and turn to face him. He felt strangely calm, not feeling the surge of anger he usually did when he saw Zucco. It scared him.

"Well if it isn't the Boy Blunder. What are you doing here? Where's Bats?"

"Sorry to disappoint, but I'll just have to do, won't I?" He said, surprised at how steady his voice sounded. He was expecting to be terrified at the notion of going up against Tony on his own, but he wasn't.

The gangster chuckled. "I suppose you will." Tony raised a hand and blocked the Birdarang that Robin had thrown, the metallic projectile bouncing harmlessly off his arm.

Tony then retaliated, grabbing Robin's wrist and throwing him at the wall. The Boy Wonder grunted as the air was pushed forcibly from his lungs, collapsing on the floor and gasping.

"You can't beat me. Not now that I have this." He said, pointing to the implant protruding from the side of his head like a very expensive Frankenstein fancy dress.

"That's what I was counting on." Robin said, taking the moment to throw the EMP bomb in Tony's direction. It rolled and hit his foot, as he looked down and frowned at the small grenade. He looked alarmed as he waited for it to explode, but it didn't.

He laughed. "Looks like your little gadgets didn't work on me."

"Don't be so sure." Robin said, stepping back so that the EMP wouldn't take out his own tech.

The casing opened and a blue blast emitted from the exposed electronics. Tony's device sparked, before deactivating. His healing factor had been neutralised, which meant Robin could put the gangster away, hopefully forever.

"That's the end, Tony. While you're here, why don't you just walk yourself back to your cell-"

Robin was interrupted as the EMP exploded, red hot, roaring fire igniting the hallway. The explosion was meant to be harmless to non-electronics. In other words, he hadn't built an explosive into it, so it didn't have the potential _to_ explode. Robin didn't know what was going on. He turned and ran, jumping behind the inch thick door of a nearby cell. He listened as the fire crackled, licking around the edges of the doorframe.

"I'm not going to die while you're still alive, you little rat!" Robin heard, Tony-minus the healing factor-emerged from the flames. Robin's eyes widened as he saw the badly burnt gangster run around the doorframe.

One under the flickering light of the cell, Robin could see the extent of Tony's injuries without the powers that Masquerade's device gave him. Blood and burnt skin were all he could see, and the smell of charred hair and coppery blood filled the air, along with the smoke from the explosion.

Amidst all the chaos, Robin's world descended into darkness as he fell into a hallucination, triggered by the smoke and his mental condition, to escape the carnage of the real world. It wasn't much better. It was dark, very dark, and he was scared. The noise of the fire was still there, but above all, he could hear the shallow breaths of his opponent.

Robin reached into his utility belt and brought out a mini explosive with sharp, bladed edges. He still couldn't see, but he listened, and threw the explosive. He couldn't see, but he heard Tony's scream of pain as the blade sliced him. He couldn't see, but he knew it had cut his throat, and killed him. Of course he didn't miss his target. He never did. He couldn't see, but the dull thump as Tony hit the floor confirmed his death. Then his sight returned.

He could see Tony Zucco's body unceremoniously dumped in the middle of the cell.

Robin felt nauseous as he realised what he had done. He had murdered when he had sworn he would never kill. When he had sworn to protect.

One last lucid thought hung on a delicate thread of consciousness. _I need to get out._

Robin didn't even stop to think about what he had done, nor why he had done it. He simply concentrated on getting away from Arkham Asylum. Away from the raging fire and the danger.

He held the edge of his cape around his mouth and leaned against the concrete walls with the other. He rolled to the side as a wooden beam collapsed, disturbing the hot ashes and sending airborne flakes of burning wood towards him. He didn't even flinch as they touched his skin, leaving burn marks on his arms.

Robin broke into a slow run, his feet dragging as the heavy smoke filled his lungs. His eyes threatened to close, and darkness enclosed his line of vision. He tripped and staggered forwards, falling against the metal door of the cell that he had hidden behind. The metal was scorching hot, but he trusted his reinforced gloves as he pushed it further open. The smoke from the main fire poured in, and Robin choked, putting both hands over his mouth and nose, but somehow the smog still got in. It laced his lungs with soot and his next step was his last.

He collapsed, exhausted and oxygen starved, but alive. As Robin's last moments of consciousness seeped away, he hoped that the fire wouldn't kill him. He hoped that he would have a chance to explain. His eyes slid shut, and the bright flames faded into darkness.

It was as if it had never happened.

* * *

Cadmus Labs:

M'gann landed the bioship opposite the small building and opened the door, before climbing out of her seat and following the rest of the team out onto the street. They arrived at the lab and let themselves in. She ran in first, opening the doors prior to her entry by her telekinesis. It was a slim hope that masquerade and her accomplice were still at Cadmus, but it was worth a shot. In any case, it was better than just sitting around at Mount Justice waiting for a mission. She did feel a little guilty for not telling Batman or Robin and KidFlash about where they were going, but it wasn't like they were kids. They could do as they pleased, plus the last time they did something on their own initiative, Batman had praised them.

She almost laughed as she saw Red Arrow run ahead, and Aqualad faltering as he saw someone else take the lead. She thought about how bummed Wally would be for missing out on quality time with his vigilante idol. He had called in to say he wasn't going to be available for any missions since Batman had requested for him to look after Robin. Miss Martian was glad Wally had gone with Robin. She couldn't imagine Batman handling the boy wonder's problems very well. He just didn't come across very...fatherly.

She appreciated having an emotionless man shrouded in mystery as their mission giver, but she couldn't help but feel sorry for Robin for ending up with him as a partner. Plus, she'd recently found out that they weren't _just_ partners. They lived together, and Bats had brought him up from the age of nine. On mars the parents were often tough on their children, coaxing them to work harder, to master their powers, to achieve greatness. She could only imagine that having Batman as a father was worse than having a Martian as a parent. At least Martians showed compassion.

"Miss M? A little concentration on the mission would be awesome if you don't mind." Artemis said gently, as if M'gann was going to crack if she didn't say it nicely.

She admitted that she was a little shaken up from meeting her match in psychic abilities, but she wasn't weak.

"Yeah, sure. Just give me a second to get the link up..." She said, linking Red Arrow as well.

_Can everyone hear me?_ She asked mentally, smiling at the chorus of affirmatives in her head._ Let's get going then._

Red Arrow walked ahead, his strides fluid and purposeful, and M'gann found herself jealous at his confidence. She was about to follow him, when the unmistakable sound of a communicator ringing echoed through the entrance hall.

It was Aqualad's. The atlantean answered, not saying anything as the person on the other end of the line as they explained something.

"I will be there immediately." He muttered, sounding disappointed, and maybe even slightly angry. He dismissed the call and turned to the team.

"It was Batman. He needs us to go to Gotham city."

"Why?" Artemis asked, inspecting an arrow that she had taken from her quiver.

"Robin's in hospital. And custody."

"Custody? You mean, custody as in witness to a crime custody?" Asked Artemis, her brow creased in worry.

"No. Custody, as in suspected of committing the crime custody." Aqualad said. "We are witnesses to his actions over the past few days. They cannot convict him unless we make a statement and he is proven guilty."

"But_ why_ is he guilty?" Superboy asked.

"He went after Zucco alone and now..." The atlantean trailed off and looked over his team, the team he was meant to hand leadership of over to Robin. "Zucco was found dead in Arkham Asylum."

"Dead?" M'gann murmured.

"Robin couldn't have...it wasn't him." Red Arrow stated, but he didn't sound very confident.

"I don't believe it." Super boy muttered.

"We have to assume the worst for now." Their leader said softly.

Artemis huffed, but her eyes held deep concern for their boy wonder. "Fine. He'd better have a really good explanation for this."

* * *

Arkham Asylum:

After finding Wayne Manor unoccupied when not counting Alfred, Bruce and Wally had continued off to find Robin. They already knew where he was, thanks to Wally's communicator. They had arrived at the prison only to find acrid smoke pouring from the prison. Wally had put the fire out by whipping up the wind outside with his speed, and they had found Robin, battered and bruised and burned, but alive.

They had also found Tony Zucco. Or what was left of the gangster.

Bruce wondered why the Tony had been killed, but not Robin. It didn't matter. He had been relieved to find Robin alive.

That was, until they reviewed the security footage to see what had happened. Robin had thrown some sort of grenade at Tony, which exploded and filled the place with flames. By then, the gangster had been badly burned, but not dead. Then Robin had put an end to him, cutting his throat and killing him instantly. Murdering him.

Wally had been shocked, but somehow, things just didn't add up. Robin didn't seem to know what he was doing, and he knew from his science knowledge that what his friend had thrown hadn't meant to explode like it had. It was an EMP, and unless Robin had altered it, it was only meant to effect electronics. The plan had been foolproof, to disable Zucco's healing factor and arrest him, but something had gone wrong.

Even if Robin _had_ altered the EMP, he didn't know that it would explode since he left himself right in the line of fire.

Wally had forced himself to watch through the whole security video, even as Zucco was killed by his best friend. Robin had had his eyes closed, even as he took Zucco's life. He seemed scared, and he didn't seem to realise what he had done, even as he tried to escape the room.

Of course, Bruce and his low tolerance for illegal actions had led them to hand the security footage over to the Gotham PD while they took Robin to hospital. Bruce would have rather kept the tape and reviewed it with the league, but he had been surrounded by police officer unable to explain what Bruce Wayne was doing at the scene of a crime. He had eventually handed over the evidence, but Wally knew he had called in the young team.

He knew they would all have to make a statement to the police about why they think it had happened and where they were at the time and whether they had anything to do with the crime - the usual procedures.

Nothing had been decided, but they had handcuffed Robin to his hospital bed. As if he could escape anyway. Wally doubted he could even move.

Now, as Wally sat next to his best friends hospital bed, his costume replaced by a hospital gown and drip. At least he had been able to keep his mask on, although that was more for Bruce's benefit.

"Why'd you do it man?" Wally asked, his voice shaking slightly. He couldn't get the image of Tony out of his head. The scene had _not_ been pretty. "If you had only waited a couple more minutes, we could've been there." He then became hopeful. "Maybe they'll say it was self defense?" He sighed. "It didn't look like self defense."

"No. It didn't." Bruce murmured, appearing in the doorway. The poor guy still seemed pretty shocked about what had happened. The billionaire puled up a chair next to Wally and stared at his unconscious ward, listening to the beeping machinery help pump the noxious smoke from his lungs.

"He didn't mean for it to happen. I could see he didn't mean to kill Tony. I don't think he even meant for that bomb to go off."

"I know. I know Robin would never kill anyone purposefully. He wouldn't even hurt anyone purposefully. I don't think that was Robin, he had his eyes closed the whole time. Robin wouldn't do that, but the police don't know that. I can't stop them, I'd get arrested." Bruce rambled his opinions to himself.

A nurse came into the room with a clipboard. She jumped when she noticed Bruce.

"Mister Wayne! What are you doing here?"

"I was at the scene. I had been visiting Arkham to discuss a new project on the high security cells when I found the guards dead. I followed the trail of carnage upstairs and found this little one collapsed on the floor."

Wally would've been impressed at how easily Bruce lied if not for the situation.

"You know this 'little one' has been convicted of murder." She said, keeping her distance from Robin as if she was scared he would jump up and threaten to kill her.

"Yes." He said seriously. "He has also been diagnosed with multiple personality disorder. It wasn't his fault." He ground out, biting back a number of threats that-as Batman-he would've put to use.

"Fine, but that boy has always been a little too violent if you ask me."

"_That boy _has been protecting this city from the age of nine." He retorted, his chair screeching as he got up.

"Bruce." Wally warned, feeling strange that he was the one ordering Bruce, and not the other way round.

The billionaire grunted and sat back down, watching the nurse as she stuck a syringe into his ward's arm and drained the contents into his blood system. She exited the room hastily, glad to get away from the boy murderer.

"I hope you stay asleep for a while longer. As soon as you wake up, you've got a whole load of questions to answer." Wally leaned in. "But between you and me, I know that wasn't you that killed Tony, was it."

He received no answer but the beep of machines working to keep him alive.

"The rest of the team will be getting here soon. I'd better go and meet them." Bruce announced, leaving the room.

"Uh huh." He knew that Bruce just wanted an excuse to get out of the hospital. To do something to help Robin. He also knew the team wouldn't be getting here for at least another one or two hours.

When they finally did arrive, the mood was sour. Only Wally and Bruce were allowed in the room, so the others had to wait outside for the police to come and tell them their decision.

At least Robin's condition had gotten much better, and the nurse had taken the machines away, leaving just the drip. She said that his injuries weren't as bad as they thought they had been and she expected the teen to be waking up very soon.

Wally had tried and failed to think of things to say to Robin when he woke up, but he could only think of questions. Why did you do it? What happened? Etcetera etcetera.

"I really wish I could help, but I'm Bruce Wayne, and I'm not the police. I don't know _what_ to do." Wally sighed, leaning back in his chair and peering out of the window.

"Ughh." He heard Robin moan behind him. He was waking up.

His eyes-though not visible-opened and looked around the room, his hand tugging weakly against his cuffs. "Why-where?" He murmured, his voice hoarse and quiet.

"Hey Rob. How are you feeling." Wally could've slapped himself. Of all the things he could have said, he asked him how he was when he was clearly not okay.

Robin ran a hand though his hair and snagged his mask on the way. He frowned and took it off, placing it on the side table. "Make sure nobody comes in."

Wally nodded numbly, and pulled down the shutters on the door. When he turned back, Robin was leaning forward on the bed, his blue eyes wide with fear. "What happened? The last thing I remember was...fire. And...I did something bad, didn't I?" Robin exhaled shakily, looking down, his hair flopping over his face and shrouding his eyes. Wally could've sworn he saw a tear drop from his cheek. "I killed him, didn't I?! I should've never gone after him. Not the way I am now." His voice sounded like broken glass. He really was hopeless. "I can't believe it actually happened...I hoped it was just in my head, like everything else in nowadays."

"In your head..." Wally mused. "Maybe it was."

"It couldn't have been. I _know_ what happened. I remember exactly what happened."

"Rob...I really wish I could do something for you."

"I could hear." Robin cried. "I could hear myself kill him."

"I know...Richard." Wally tested, since the last time he saw the Boy Wonder, he believed Robin and Richard were two people. When Robin didn't correct him, he decided he was lucid for the moment.

"I didn't want to kill him. I had to kill him, but that didn't mean I wanted to."

"What do you mean you 'had to kill him'?" Wally asked, confused by Robin's contradictory statements.

"He was killing everyone in Arkham. They were all dead when I got there. The EMP exploded, but I never made it that way. When Tony came, he was burnt and...I got scared. I closed my eyes and tried to stop him. But I never meant to kill him!"

"Are you sure you didn't alter the EMP to explode and forgot about it?"

"I'm sure."

"Then I think it was sabotaged. Somebody else got a hold of your EMP with the knowledge that you'd use it one Tony, and altered it." Wally frowned as he wondered _who_ would want Tony dead, and Robin framed.

"Try explaining that to the police." Bruce sighed as he closed the door behind him.

"Bruce!" Robin said, an edge of hope to his voice.

Bruce looked down at his ward, his face a mixture of disappointment and sympathy.

"I trusted you."

* * *

**Awww poor Robin :( Sorry for that MEGA confusing chapter, but I love to write from a confused point of view so I don't give away the story to anybody :P**

**In other news, does anyone read the Percy Jackson series? If so, have you read House Of Hades yet? Because that book is friggin' epic and I've been fangirling about a character whose name begins with 'N' (I'm not gonna put the name there, because I might spoil it for someone!) all week! N'awwww! **

**Anyway, I shall be updating within the next two weeks, in the meantime, have an awesome weekend!**

**Saff is out! PEACE! x**


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